Blood, Tears, and Illumination
by MyraThorne
Summary: Follows Bend You, Break You: AU: Seven years later, Victor has begun his search to get Jimmy back. But first, he must help the newly founded X-men with that nasty Gehenna Stone Problem Warning: SLASH SLASH SLASH BROCEST SLASH! ROMULUS! SLASH
1. The Prolog

Romulus watched the play of morning sunlight in his slumbering lover's hair. Usually James was not one to sleep so late, but Romulus felt he would need the rest.

Trying times are coming, of this Romulus was certain.

He walked over to his desk and picked through the papers that littered it. Romulus had recently set up shop in Madripoor with James in hopes of bringing many of the various crime syndicates located on the island into an alliance with him. While Romulus worked with those who lived in the luxurious Hightown, James worked on those who made the dregs of Lowtown their home. James had even recently come into possession of a popular watering hole, the Princess Bar.

James didn't remember the wonderful times he had had with Romulus back in the Forties in both back allies and palatial estates, but with some gentle… "reminding" by Romulus while he slept, James would often wake in the morning remembering the events of his past with Romulus. True, Romulus had to edit many of the memories, mostly to make certain that James _never_ remembered Victor in any sort of positive light.

And speaking of remembrances, it was time for another session for James. Daken had sent word a week ago that his plans were in danger of being disrupted yet again by that damnable Professor Xavier. Not only that, but Victor had also signed up with Xavier after being liberated from Alkali Lake.

The elder was proving to be just as difficult for Romulus to kill as it was for his enemies to kill James. Though James rarely needed protection from anyone else, for what fighting skills he did not actively remember were written into his very bones now.

Romulus crawled back into the shared bed, guiding James to use his lap as a pillow. Smiling thinly, he lovingly brushed back sweat slicked hair from James's brow. Only hours ago, James had his head thrown back and was shouting his passion to all who cared to hear him as he rode his lover's cock mercilessly. The much younger lupine had a damned near insatiable appetite at times. Romulus wondered if he told James his only place was in his bed if James would truly complain all that much?

Chuckling at the thought of James as a mere bed slave, and making a mental note to suggest this as a game to play later, Romulus pushes his way into James's mind. As always, his lover's mind tries to resist against the intrusion. But ultimately, James craves knowledge of his past.

Even if that past is completely made up.

_Here is James during the early Twenties, in a cabin in some Canadian border town with his dead wife cradled in his arms. The walls of their once shared cabin are splattered with her blood and her killer's scent is heavy in the air. James jumps to his feet as Victor appears behind him._

"_Warned you, runt, but you don't listen too good do ya?" Victor sneers, slashing claws across James's chest. James cries out in pain, rolling across the floor to get into a better position._

_The two men clash, tearing at each other's flesh. Both are trying to get the upper hand, but wounds on both bodies heal as fast as they are given. _

_The battle quickly leaves the safety of the cabin and spills out in the woods surrounding, two men locked in a death struggle._

_Victor manages to get James on his belly; tearing away James's clothing to quickly bury his erection in his competitor's body. James is shocked into limpness, unable to comprehend what is happening. He blinks in terror and confusion as Victor fucks him, his blood spilling onto fresh snow._

_After Victor comes, he knocks James unconscious._

_Now James remembers spending nearly twenty years as a near slave of Victor's, existing only to meet whatever pleasure Victor sought. Sometimes it was fucking. Many times, Victor just needed something to suffer. And who better than James, whose body would be healed within a day or two from the worst of Victor's imaginings?_

_It is World War II that Victor has dragged James off to fight in. It is also the first time he meets Romulus, who gives him protection and the strength to fight back against Victor._

_James's mind is roughly forced back to memories of beatings and rape at the hands of Victor over twenty years. _

_He hates this animal that has tormented him for so long._

_But he has found love and strength through Romulus. And James will never turn his back on Romulus. His loyalty will always be with his lover._

_Always._

Romulus withdrew from James's mind. James will awaken soon, with only a dim memory of the visions Romulus has planted in his head. A few more sessions such as this, and James will be very certain that he has remembered the pain and humiliation he once suffered at Victor's hands.

And Romulus will be there to guide his tormented lover through the pain of remembrance, just like he always is and always will be.


	2. Chapter 1

There are very few things left in the world that truly have the ability to dumbfound Victor Creed these days anymore. After living on this planet for well over a century, it takes a lot to shock him.

He stared at Professor Charles Xavier in shock.

"Vampires?" Victor repeated the word that had just been used moments ago. "Are you serious? You want me to go after _vampires?"_

"Actually, you won't be going alone. You will be taking Scott, Jean, and Storm with you," Xavier went on as if there was nothing truly out of the ordinary with this discussion.

"There are no such things as vampires," Victor said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And there are no such things as men who live for hundreds of years, yet here you stand," Xavier replied. "Now, I don't know for a fact that these are in fact actual vampires. But whoever they are, they are drawing a great deal of unnecessary attention to themselves. From what I can tell, this should be simple enough for you and the others to deal with."

Victor snorted. "I don't need the Mickey Mouse club to help me with this, especially if we're only talking about two 'vampires'."

Xavier smiled. "You're probably right, but it is for that very reason I want the others to go with you. These are the very kinds of situations they are being trained to deal with. They need real world experience. And who better than you to help guide them through it?"

Victor smiled sarcastically. "I feel so honored."

"There is something else that I thought would be of interest to you: the diamond these creatures were trying to steal was a facsimile of a gem known as the Gehenna Stone. Erik mentioned to me in his last phone call from Israel that this stone is of great interest to Romulus." Xavier nodded at the subtle jerk in Victor's body. "Yes, this may be the very thing you will need to find your brother. That is the other reason I want the students with you. Jean is telepathic. If Romulus sends someone to collect the stone, she will be able to get information from them."

"What does Romulus want with some diamond?" Victor had spent countless hours over the last year since learning about Jimmy first being in Moscow, and more recently in Madripoor, trying to learn everything he could about Romulus. There wasn't much to find. But based on what little he did know, Victor knew Romulus wouldn't be all too interested in expensive jewelry.

Xavier actually chuckled. "The Gehenna Stone actually has quite an interesting history. Supposedly, it houses the soul of a powerful demon called Ba'al. By all accounts, demon or man, he was known for his cruelty and great power. He led horrific blood rituals. If you believe the myth, he was struck down by the very hand of God Himself. Supposedly, only his body could be destroyed. So, his spirit was put into the Gehenna Stone. The stone was then split into pieces that were hidden all over the world. Some say he was the first vampire.

"Now, as to what Romulus wants with it, I really couldn't tell you. But it would be in all of our best interests if you found out."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Daken gnashed his teeth. It was only by great force of will that he did not call Romulus and demand to be returned to Madripoor immediately. Daken was beginning to wonder if Romulus was purposely trying to keep him apart from his father. For thirty five years, father and son had been separated. Romulus had always assured Daken that it was for both of their sakes that it was this way, that men like Stryker would only use Daken as a way to hurt James.

Romulus had promised to make him strong enough to defend himself. Daken knew that the American government had assassinated his mother when she was late in her pregnancy with him in order to prevent James from having unnecessary attachments. It was Romulus who had saved him, raised him, and hidden him all of these years, told him glorious stories of the father he had never met.

And now that James was finally back in his life, it seemed that Romulus wanted to keep the man all to himself.

The past year had been filled with pointless missions, like the very one he was on right now. Daken's job was simple: go to San Francisco, wait to see which family member of the Corrigan family had this Gehenna Stone and then acquire the stone.

Apparently, someone had all ready tried to steal the stone from a museum. But it had turned out to be a fake.

Now, the Corrigan family, who was apparently in possession of the 'real' Gehenna Stone, was in some kind of legal custody war over the stupid thing.

_This is a complete waste of my time,_ Daken complained to himself as he stabbed at his breakfast with a fork. But he also knew that trying to get out of this job would only lead to Romulus shipping him off somewhere else.

"Bastard," Daken muttered.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Victor looked around the streets of San Francisco with mild disgust. It didn't matter where it was, he hated being inside of cities these days. He would much rather be out in the wild where he truly belonged.

With Jimmy by his side, the two of them running free and sharing in each other's pleasure. And that is the only reason he has not run howling for the hills yet.

He is also about ready to smack all three of these damned kids upside the head, at the very least. Jimmy was so much better at dealing with this shit when they were in the army. Youngsters, barely out of mama's warm embrace, thinking they were so ready for their first real fight. These kids had no idea what hell could possibly be waiting for them.

Well, ole Chucky wanted him to learn these kids up right, and that's just what he would do.

Scott, especially, was bubbling over with enthusiasm as he practically skipped over to Victor. This was one of the straightest gay boys that Victor had ever met. "Now, Mr. Creed, I've been thinking about some strategies to getting the location of the stone-"

"Really?" Victor couldn't be any less interested. "Look, here's what we are going to do. We know that the Corrigan family has the stone-"

"So we can sneak into the house while they're at court today-"

"No."

"Well, we could disguise ourselves as delivery men-"

"When did this turn into an episode of fucking Scooby Doo?" Victor snorted. "And after you and I corner the scary monster, will Velma and Daphne over there come to pull off his rubber mask?" Scott had no idea how to respond. "Listen, junior, I know that have studied all sorts of wonderful strategies. Right now, you don't know shit. I have been doing this for years, you are still a wet behind the ears pup. You will do what I tell you, or I break all of the fingers in your left hand."

"Why my left?" Scott damned near squeaked.

"Because that's the one you jerk off with, so you will remember your lesson better."

Scott looked like he might pass out. "So, what do you suggest we do?" Still trying to sound like he was the leader, bless his pathetic little heart.

"We are going to the court house and Jean is going to politely ask the Corrigan family where the Gehenna Stone is," Victor explained.

"Ah, by reading their minds!"

Victor rolled his eyes. "No shit, genius. Now stop interrupting me. After we know where the damned thing is, we're going to take two separate field trips. You and Storm are going to the museum where the fake stone was taken from to see what you can find out about these 'vampires'. Jean is coming with me to collect the stone."

"Then we need to get to the court house quickly!" Scott said decisively.

_Don't strangle the students. Don't strangle the students. You need them to help you find Jimmy._ Victor knew that this was going to be a very long mission.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Daken was about ready to either gauge out his own eyes or run into the court room and start gauging out the arguing family members' eyes. For the better part of twenty minute, he has had to listen to Archie and Ruth Corrigan scream at each other about the supposed sanity (or lack thereof, depending which party was screaming at the moment) of the as yet to appear Brother Burt.

This is one of the reasons that Daken follows Romulus towards his goal. Once Romulus is in control, such things like this petty bickering will be beneath him. No more stupid humans in control, no more foolishness. Only the law that the strong survive and the weak must either be destroyed or submit.

Daken finds himself freezing for a moment. He has been a true believer of this vision for so many years. But what of his father? Daken wants them to be a proper family, like Romulus promised him.

Not for the first time, Daken wonders if Romulus actually intends to keep him around. After all, if he wanted, Romulus could make James forget that he ever had a son in the first place.

Daken's thoughts are immediately derailed when his uncle comes loping into the courthouse with three youngsters in tow. The male is clearly over eager to please, and what fun Daken could have with that one. The two females are a bit more cautious, but still eager to please.

He watches as his uncle turns to the redheaded girl, saying something he can't hear. Her eyes go blank for a moment. _The telepath, I bet_, Daken decides. He contemplates letting these fools get the stone for him, then stealing it away. Hopefully from that precious little over-achiever with the red glasses.

Victor's head suddenly snaps up, his eyes narrowing on Daken. Daken watches as his uncle scents the air. _Do I smell like Dad to you, Victor?_ Daken immediately masks his scent. Let the bastard try to figure it out for himself.

All of this would have built up to a glorious, epic first meeting-

If not for the man riding through the court house on a charging horse, and he was being chased by a horde of-

"Vampires?" Victor muttered. "There really are vampires?"

There must have been hundreds of the things. Not one of them had a heart beat, each reeking of death. And they were swarming the court house.

Daken summed up the situation best for everyone:

"Oh, fuck me."


	3. Chapter 2

James is dreaming.

_Itsu is truly gone. _

_James is still having a hard time wrapping his mind around that concept. Her funeral was three days ago, yet he still feels as if she will be crawling into bed with him any moment now. His newborn son squirms in the crib by James's bed, sighing in his sleep. This child is all he has left of Itsu now._

_It was Romulus who had rescued the boy from Victor's wrath, cutting him from his dead mother's womb just in time. James had wept tears of joy as he held the infant in his arms for the first time._

_He had come to Japan after the war to find some peace, and all Victor had given him was pain._

_Romulus crawls into the bed beside him, gently caressing his arm. "Victor is still out there," he informs James softly. "The only good news is that he believes the boy died with his mother. I will be able to protect your child until you have dealt with Victor."_

_James stiffens before sitting up with his back to Romulus. "I'm not abandoning my son!" he snaps._

"_And how long will it take Victor to find the boy if you keep him so close?" Romulus replies firmly. "Will you be able to keep your attention on your child every moment? I promise you will be reunited with your son, but only once Victor has been dealt with."_

James wakes up with a startled gasp. Romulus is there instantly, just like he always is to comfort him after his nightmares. There are some definite benefits to having a lover who also is telepathic.

And who is very, _very _good with his hands.

Rubbing soothing circles into James's back, Romulus lightly nips James under the ear. "What was it this time?" he murmurs.

"Victor… he murdered my wife, Daken's mother," James mumbles, leaning back into the inviting warmth of Romulus's embrace. "Just how much has he taken from me?"

"Too much, but you have all ready gotten Daken back. And soon, you will have your revenge, my love," Romulus promises.

"Where is Daken?" James asks, his back arching slightly as Romulus reaches under the sheets to begin fondling him to hardness.

"Don't worry about him right now, he'll be back soon enough," Romulus murmurs, pushing James onto his back.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

In the thirty-some-odd years that Daken has been alive, he has seen many strange things in his travels. But these vampires take the cake right now.

What was supposed to be a simple snatch and go very quickly turned into an all out brawl between the living and the dead.

Though he would never admit it out loud, these kids were actually holding their own pretty well. Between Xavier and his uncle, he can only image the kind of training they have had.

Daken does his fair share, looping off heads and ripping out hearts with a mild sense of pleasure. He manages to steal a quick glance at his uncle. Victor seems to be enjoying this as much as he is. Xavier has been keeping Victor on a very short leash, it seems.

The vampires that are still capable of movement suddenly stop as if of one accord, listening to some voice only they can here. Just as quickly as they appeared, the vampires flee back through the hole where a window in the court wall once was.

Breathing heavily through his nose, Daken contemplates following them. But why do this alone? Some things are just more fun when done in groups. And this would be an excellent time to get to know his uncle better. You never know when you're going to need an ally like him.

The black man on the horse, Burt if Daken's not mistaken, shocks everyone by clapping his hands and laughing gleefully. "That was brilliant! I haven't had this much fun in ages!" he chuckles.

"Well, I'm certainly glad you enjoyed yourself while we nearly got ourselves killed," the young man in the red sunglasses grumbles.

"Oh, now, my boy, you are far too young to be so cynical! These are the kinds of things that you will be able to make wonderful stories to tell your grandchildren one day!" Burt crows in a horrible imitation of a British accent, clapping the boy on the shoulder. "Today, I am James Bond. Who are each of you today?"

_Great, this guy's even loonier than Romulus told me,_ Daken groans inwardly. Out loud, he says, "My name is Daken, sir."

"Daken. Da-ken," Burt repeats, rolling the name around on his tongue as if to get a better handle on the taste of it. "I have heard that name before, yet for the life of me I cannot remember where." Burt shrugs, pushing the thought aside. "Something to ponder another day, who are the rest of this merry little band?"

"I'm Victor. The boy is Scott. The red head is Jean, and the white haired lady is Ororo," Victor introduces. He still seems a bit shell shocked. "Care to explain why those vampires were after you, uh, Mr. Bond?"

"Why, they were after the diamond, my silly boy!" Burt pulls the Gehenna Stone out of his sport coat pocket, showing it proudly to the mutants. He leaned in close to Victor, whispering loudly behind one hand, "They think they can use it to rule the world. That's why MI6 sent me to acquire the stone. It must _never _fall into enemy hands!"

Victor has to rack his brain for a moment. He has seen a few of the James Bond films. "Er, Sir Gray sent us on behalf of the Ministry of Defense to help you to protect the stone."

"Brilliant! How is old Freddie these days?" Burt asks.

"Ah, he's… doing well." Victor cannot believe that this lunatic is who has the stone. "But time is of the essence-"

"Mr. Creed, sir, the vampires are regrouping," Jean interrupts urgently, her eyes darting to the hole in the wall. "We need to get out of here."

"Indeed, young lady," Burt heartily agrees. "It is imperative that I get to Madripoor as soon as possible. I have chartered a plane, and I would love for you all to be my guests! The more the merrier!"

Victor glances at Daken. He has no idea who this pup is, but there is something oddly familiar about him. Victor finds his thoughts turning to Jimmy. First chance he gets, Victor is going to have himself a little chat with this newcomer.

But first-

"Well, my faithful steed cannot hold all of us." Burt had dropped the accent, looking around his surroundings. His face brightened. "Ah, my dear brother! Archie, you must come with us. You can pilot the plane!"

"Damn it, Burt, what have you gotten us all involved in this time?" Archie muttered, picking his way through debris and vampire corpses.

"Action! Adventure! Drama! You know: all the things that make life interesting!" Burt grins. He points outside at the unattended police cars. "We can take one of those!"

Scott gasps. "We can't steal a police car!"

Burt wraps an arm around Scott's shoulders. "Think of it, Scott. We turn on the sirens, and we can race through the streets of San Francisco," Burt explains. "No one will bother us. And, more importantly, it should reduce the number of innocent bystanders getting hurt."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

James stands on the balcony outside of his and Romulus's room, watching the people milling about on the street below. Even though he knows he should head down to the Princess to start opening her up for the evening, he finds that he doesn't feel much like leaving the house today. He is giving serious thought to calling O'Donnell, his partner down at the bar, and telling him that he is taking the night off.

"You're troubled, my love," Romulus says, joining James on the balcony with a glass of red wine in one hand and a beer for James in the other. "Is there something I should know about?"

James shakes his head, gratefully taking the beer. "Nothing we haven't discussed before," he replies. "I'm just worried about Daken."

Romulus finds himself licking his lips in anticipation as James tips his head back to swallow nearly half the bottle in one go. "Daken will be home soon enough. Once he brings me the final piece of the stone, you two will be able to spend some time together."

James picks at the bottles label. "Seems like he is hardly ever around at all," he grumbles. "I don't think he likes me very much."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, James," Romulus scoffs, closing the distance between them. "Your son loves you very much. But we are getting close to reach our goal, and so I need him to do certain tasks for me."

James smiles thinly. "Sometimes it just seems like you are purposely trying to keep him away from me," he admits softly.

Romulus touches the side of James's face gently. "I would never do such a thing," he promises gravely. "In some ways, I see him to be my son as much as he is yours."

"Maybe one of these times I could go with him," James suggests. "A short mission-"

Chuckling, Romulus kisses James, relishing in the taste of the beer on his lovers tongue. "Even though we've been together these last forty years, this is the first time where I have had you as a constant in my life, James. I find myself still wondering if someone is just going to come and take you away from me again," Romulus admits, pressing their foreheads together. "Can you blame an old man for being possessive?"

James snorts good naturedly. "I sincerely doubt you have to worry about Daken trying to seduce me away from you," he replies drily. "He doesn't strike me as the type who's into incest."

Romulus is almost tempted to tell James that he should be careful what he says. But that would lead to a very awkward conversation, and Romulus does not want to have to deal with wiping James's memory again. "Well, as soon as he gets back, he will be here for at least a week. You two can bond with each other then."

"Bond, eh?" James grins slyly. "What am I supposed to bond myself to in the mean time?"

Forcing James's arms behind his back and holding both wrists in a single hand, Romulus roughly grabs James by his hair. "Oh, I can think of a few things," he promises lustfully. "In fact, perhaps you should go tell Mr. O'Donnell you won't be coming into the bar tonight."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Daken grits his teeth in frustration. He wants to kill Scott, who is apparently a back seat driver. He's not quite sure how he got stuck with Scott and Burt, but at least Burt is helpful, giving directions on the quickest way through San Francisco.

All Scott seems to do is complain, point out the obvious, and then complain some more. Daken purposefully jerks the car to the side several times just to watch the kid smack his head against the window. Burt finds this amusing, but says nothing about it.

"That's a red light!" Scott yells, trying to point through the gridded divider. It's the only thing that has kept Daken from punching him in the face repeatedly.

"No shit? Really? I'm so glad you're here to tell me what fucking color the light is!" Daken roars. "Now, unless you actually have something relevant to say, shut the fuck up!"

Scott actually pouts. _Dear god, I think I might have made the little shit cry_, Daken sneers to himself.

"At the next light, turn left," Burt says softly. He wonders if perhaps he would have been better off in the car with the two young ladies. The large man with the nails of a prostitute would probably be better able to handle the other two.

Scott goes sliding across the seat when Daken takes a hard left. At least this time he managed to not smack his head against the window. He looked over the top of the seat. "Um, Daken?"

"Oh, what now?" Daken grumbled.

"There's a cop car behind us, and it's full of vampires," Scott says. "Can you drive without knocking me around for a second?"

Taking Daken's silence as acquisition to his request, Scott stares at the other car intently. Lifting up his sunglasses, two red beams shoot out of his eyes and into the chest of the other car's vampiric driver. Scott watches in horror as the car careens into several cars parked on the side of the street before it finally crashes to a halt.

Two more police cars of vampires come barreling down on them. Scott hesitates for a moment. He really doesn't want to do any more damage-

"Think what those vampires will do if you don't stop them now," Burt's voice gently cuts into his thoughts. "There are worse things than damaged cars, my boy."

Scott swallows thickly, and then takes aim. He manages to hit one of the drivers with ease. But the remaining car of vampires apparently acquired some weapons and they start shooting at them. Scott ducks beneath the seat.

"Turn right! Turn right!" Burt screeches.

Scott yelps in pain, his fore head colliding first with the window then with the divider. His glasses have fallen off his face and he is starting to feel woozy. Not thinking, he opens his eyes. Fortunately, he was looking up at the ceiling.

"Close your eyes, you fool!" Daken yells over the rushing wind that has now filled the car. "What the hell is that girl doing?"

Fumbling around, Scott manages to find his glasses. Once it is safe to open his eyes, Scott watches as Storm levitates into the air after jumping out of the other car. He chuckles. "Storm can handle those guys."

With a rush of thunder, lightning strikes the remaining car of vampires. The smell of ozone is thick in the air.

"Whoo-wee!" Burt grins. "I'm sure glad I'm on the same side as you guys. I certainly would never want you as enemies!"

The rest of the trip is uneventful as they finally make it to the airport. Burt leads the way to the plane he has chartered.

Daken notices that Victor is not even trying to hide his stares now. "If you have something to say to me, old man, I suggest you just do it," Daken grounds out.

"Have I met you before?" Victor asks.

Daken is tempted to draw the charade out a little farther. But his temper is running short enough as it is. He spins around and punches Victor in the jaw, sending the older feral crashing to the ground. "That's for my mother, you don of a bitch."

Victor lies on the tarmac, dazed for a moment. He is dimly aware that the others are staring at him. "What the fuck are you talking about?" Victor finally says.

"Itsu, your brother's wife, was my mother and you killed her," Daken spits. "She was eight months pregnant with me. You got jealous that your brother might want to be with her more than you, so you killed her."

Victor blinks owlishly at Daken. "Kid, I have no idea what you are talking about. To my knowledge, Jimmy has never been married. And I never heard of him knocking some broad up-"

"Her name was Itsu," Daken bit out. "She and my father were married. You killed her." Romulus wouldn't lie about something like this. At least Daken is mostly positive Romulus wouldn't lie about something like this.

But the snarky voice in the back of his mind cruelly points out, _And just what is he doing to your father? You know damned well that Romulus has either twisted the truth or flat out lied to James to keep him in line! Why wouldn't he lie to you too?_

"And I'm telling you I have no fucking idea what you are talking about," Victor responds, somehow managing to keep his cool through all of this.

Daken opens and shuts his mouth a few times, grasping for something… anything to say. He finally spins on his heel and continues to stalk towards the plane.

It is Scott who helps Victor to his feet. "What is he talking about?" Scott asks. He knows some of Victor's history- that he used to be an assassin for the government and that he fought in a lot of wars. Stuff like that, but not too many real details. The professor had told him that Victor wasn't the man he used to be before joining the school.

"I wish I knew, Scott," Victor replies numbly. "Hell, I didn't even know I had a nephew until just now. And trust me, if Jimmy had known he had a son, he sure as hell would have tried to raise the kid."

Scott drops his voice. "Do you think we can trust this guy?"

"Honestly? No, we can't. I would bet anything this Daken works for Romulus. But my gut is telling me we may be able to use him as much as he's probably going to try to use us. He hasn't tried to hurt any of you yet, so we'll just keep playing along for now."

Scott isn't sure he agrees with Victor's logic. After all, Victor seems to get rather irrational and desperate where his younger brother is concerned. But Victor is the leader, and Scott will do as he is told.


	4. Chapter 3

There are some nights were O'Donnell doesn't mind working the Princess alone. These are nights were the bar only has her regulars, full of stories of better times.

This is not one of those nights.

Oh, it had started off well enough. He wasn't even surprised when James called him to ask him to fill in for the night. It was a Thursday after all. O'Donnell wondered if James had realized yet that he ialways/i took Thursday nights off to be with his… er, partner?

Now, O'Donnell didn't give a damn one way or the other how a man chose to live his life, or who he chose to live it with. Truth be told, he would pay damned good money to see someone actually comment poorly on the fact that James lived openly with Romulus.

It was Romulus himself that O'Donnell didn't like. There was something about that man that just gave O'Donnell the creeps. It wasn't that he was clearly old enough to be James's father, or that he was clearly deeply involved in something far greater than the crime syndicates of Madripoor.

Romulus was never far from James's side. It was almost as if he knew just when to appear. Especially when someone showed any kind of interest in James that was not business like in manner. There was a young lady last week who had come in with the Japanese "business men", who had damn near humped James's leg despite James trying to send all the subtle signs that he was clearly uninterested.

And just like O'Donnell knew he would, Romulus had appeared. O'Donnell had been positive that no one had been at the table a minute ago. But when he turned around, there was Romulus sitting there calmly drinking a glass of wine as if he had been there all night.

Romulus had calmly, elegantly gotten to his feet to glide across the floor. With two long nailed fingers, he led her away from James. James had made a strange sound in his throat, like a pleading growl. Romulus's head had snapped around, teeth barred at James.

"Don't," James had murmured, trying to placate his lover. "She didn't know what she was doing-"

For a second, O'Donnell had thought that Romulus was going to attack James. But Romulus's face softened. He leaned in close to James and murmured something that only James could hear.

Two days later, the poor girl had committed suicide. At least that's what the official report said. O'Donnell heard that she had may have been assisted in her suicide.

But James clearly loved Romulus, and would hear no ill spoken of him.

So O'Donnell kept his ill ease to himself.

And tonight O'Donnell wished that Romulus was not taking up so much of James's night, because he could really use the extra help.

Two men had come into the Princess around nine, strutting like a pair of peacocks. They were loud, as only fools who had recently come into money could be. They marched right up to the bar to order drinks.

A bit of idle chit-chat and O'Donnell learned that they were twin brothers named Larry and Gar. They had seemed like run of the mill gents to O'Donnell, full of stories and eager to impress everyone.

Then they started that Ba'al shit.

"That's right," Larry (or had it been Gar?) had been saying, "once we get one more piece, we will be able to summon our own personal demon. His name's Ba'al."

O'Donnell had been ready to brush them off as a couple of loonies and had turned his attention to a couple of friends who had just walked in, when the twins began fighting each other. It didn't take long to realize what the fight was about, as they were both scrabbling over some glittery rock, punching and biting at each other.

"Damned drunks," O'Donnell had muttered before separating the twins. He had taken the rock away from them, putting it behind the bar. Almost instantly the twins had calmed down. O'Donnell convinced them to sleep it off in one of the rooms above the Princess.

A few hours later, O'Donnell had decided to close the bar down early. He was cleaning up when he heard the two brothers yelling at each other upstairs.

Grumbling, O'Donnell had thrown the rag across the bar. The voices got louder, and soon the sounds turned to ones of violence. O'Donnell ran up the stairs, deciding to put the twins in separate rooms.

Several gun shots rang out.

Twenty minutes later had what passed for police in Madripoor swarming over the Princess asking a great many questions about the two dead bodies.

Where was Romulus when you actually needed him?

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Romulus growled in pleasure, his fists wrapped tightly in the sheets. It wasn't often that he bottomed for James, but it was always worth it when he did. James is always the perfect combination of violence and tenderness that he needs.

With a satisfied roar, Romulus shuddered in pleasure, followed a moment later by James. Romulus twists around to pull James into his arms, tucking James's head under his chin.

Romulus watches as James's eyes slowly droop closed. He runs his hand through James's hair, twisting tufts of it around his claws.

Perhaps it's the post-coital bliss, but Romulus idly thinks that perhaps it's time James had another child or two to occupy his time. James has always had the instinct to protect weaker creatures.

Of course, Romulus realizes that would mean letting James bed another woman. And he remembers all too well what happened last time. It was Romulus's jealously that had led to the death of Itsu.

Though he has been hearing some interesting things about the creation of babies that doesn't require actual intercourse. Romulus makes a mental note to look into this, and then present the idea to James.

There is something about the vision of James with an army's worth of children that brings a small smile to Romulus's face. Especially if Daken becomes problematic, having a group of backups just might be a good thing.

A soft knock at the door forces Romulus from his thoughts. He can sense the presence of Police Chief Tai outside of the bedroom door. Tai knows better than to actually enter the room. Romulus makes certain that James will not awaken before getting out of their bed to slip into a pair of loose pants, though it would be interesting to appear before Tai naked.

As always, Tai is all business. "I am sorry to disturb you, my lord, but there has been an incident down at the Princess Bar that I thought you should know about."

Tai has made himself a wonderful spy for Romulus, both in the government and with the various crime syndicates. And he has also kept him abreast of any trouble concerning James.

"And what, pray tell, has happened this time?" Romulus feigns indifference. Tai will always give more information if he thinks it will impress him.

"There was a double murder at the bar tonight, twin brothers," Tai explains. "According to what I have learned, they had come in earlier claiming to have a diamond that could give them control over a demon named Ba'al."

Now he has Romulus's interest. "And did they actually have a diamond on them?"

"We have not yet found the diamond, but there are those who _did _report seeing it," Tai explained. "And I sincerely doubt that a diamond of the size that it supposedly is not going to stay hidden in Madripoor for very long."

_So, part of the Gehenna Stone is in Madripoor_, Romulus mused, walking into the study. He takes a moment to pour himself a glass of wine. "Will the murder be problematic for James?" Romulus finally asks.

"The two brothers were of no importance, I doubt even their family will miss them," Tai responded, standing stiffly in the middle of the room. "However, that diamond may prove a bit more problematic. Especially since I suspect that James's partner O'Donnell is the one who has the diamond. Most likely the diamond was stolen-"

"Oh, my dear Police Chief, you have no idea just what that diamond is worth," Romulus chortled. "Tell me, what do you know about Gehenna?"

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Victor had spent the first hour of the long flight to Madripoor contemplating his newfound nephew. And Victor had no doubt that Daken was in fact his nephew, along with having a deep seated hatred of Victor for something he never did.

Well, he's _mostly _certain that he didn't murder the boy's mother. But Jimmy would have done more than torn him apart. He would have killed Victor if he found out that he had murdered his pregnant wife.

Though, there was that time Jimmy had wandered off while they were in Japan. It was oddly hazy in Victor's memory. His mind just couldn't seem to remember what had happened. It was as if his memories from after World War II jumped from Japan to Korea with no idea of what had happened in between.

But these ponderings will have to wait until later. Burt was prattling on about the Gehenna Stone. He had been explaining about its history to the three junior X-tots, when the name Romulus came up.

"You see, Romulus has offered a great deal of money for the diamond, because he apparently believes in the mythological powers of the stone," Burt was saying. "Supposedly, he would not only have his own personal demon at his beck and call, but control over a whole army of vampires."

"An army of the undead?" Storm gasped. "What would he need that for?"

"Simple, my dear," Burt replied, for once a complete mask of seriousness. "Romulus wants to rule the world, like he did thousands of years ago."

"Oh, come on," Victor scoffed. "I know that Jimmy and I have been around for over a century, but thousands of years?"

"Victor, if what I have learned about this monster is true, he may be well over ten thousand years old. And he is not going to let go of your brother easily," Burt said. "I believe that your brother plays a very big part in his plans."

Victor did not like this one bit. It was confirming some of his suspicions. He glanced over at Daken to gage his response to all of this, but the boy was feigning being asleep.

They needed to get to Madripoor soon so Victor could straighten Jimmy back out.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

_"You're mine, Jimmy, mine!"_

_"No one will ever take you from me. Promise it!"_

_"Promise me, Jimmy. Promise!"_

_"Yours."_

_"Who do you belong to, Jimmy?"_

_"You, I belong to you!" _

James awakens with a gasp. The dream had taken him by surprise. He wasn't certain who was in it with him. And for a split second, his mind wanders back to the lab he was experimented on. _The guy who jumped on my back called me Jimmy…_

Rational thought promptly fled from his head as he felt light kisses moving up the inside his thigh. "Someone was having a very good dream," Romulus murmured, lightly licking the top of his still hard cock. "Shall we continue now that you're awake?"

James was quickly reduced to mindless babbling as Romulus lifted his legs up and pushed into his body. Sometimes, there truly is nothing better than a quick, hard fuck to start the day right. Romulus grabbed at the hands scrabbling for purchase on his body and held James's wrists in single fist above his head.

"Fuck. Fuck! Fuck!" James howled, a litany, a command, a begging request. Romulus bit the side of James's throat, not quite breaking the skin. He rides James as hard as he can, sensing that this was what his lover needed for some reason this morning.

The two men came at the same time, collapsing in a tangle of limbs. Romulus decided to wait at least ten minutes to tell James about what had happened at the Princess the night before.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Wade Wilson sat on the roof of the house next to Romulus's with one eye practically glued to the telescope that he kept perpetually trained on the bedroom. Dear God, those two constantly fucked.

Which usually left Wade with at least one of his hands sticky. Grumbling, mostly because he had to leave to clean himself up… again, Wade was eager to reunite with his old teammate.

This was the first time in months that he had been able to get this close to James for an extended period of time. Romulus had proven to be very good at finding Wade's hiding places.

But that just meant that Wade had to get better at hiding.

The mission Stryker had sent him on was simple: find Logan/Jimmy, ascertain if he was retrievable. If so, bring Logan/Jimmy back to base in one piece and alive.

Of course, Wade planned on having a _little _fun with ole Jimmy first. The kind he had been promised seven years ago, but the old fuck in the bedroom had stolen from him. Hell, what _Victor _had stolen from him.

And he would get his way this time.


	5. Chapter 4

Outwardly, Daken was the picture of serenity as he stared absently out of the window of the plane. Archie, Burt's brother and pilot of the plane, had just informed them that they would be landing in Madripoor within the hour.

But in the recesses of his mind, Daken was roiling. He had been given his orders from Romulus concerning his uncle. But his claws ached to bury themselves deep in Victor's gut; he longed to see the spark of shock in his uncle's eyes. Then Daken would take his uncle somewhere remote where he would take his time torturing Victor until he died.

Daken licked his lips in anticipation of that day. Once the stone had been secured and was in Romulus's hands, Victor was to be for Daken to do whatever the hell he pleased.

And yet, some parts of the story that Daken knew to be truth were not adding up. He had smelled no lie on Victor when he denied killing Itsu or even knowing that James had once had a wife. Perhaps Romulus had made Victor forget the whole thing. Daken struggled to think why Romulus would do such a thing.

Daken had learned a long time ago that Romulus had a master plan. Even though he didn't always know what was going on, it didn't pay to ask too many questions. Romulus saw all of the strings, knew the desires and darkness that lurked in a man's soul, and was wise enough to when to use each of these things to get what he wanted.

Daken just wished he knew what was going on where his father was concerned. The father that had been taken from him when he was no more than hours old by the uncle who was sitting so calmly at the back of the plane right now.

Maybe Romulus had changed a few of the details, but Daken had no doubt that his uncle was every bit the bastard that he had been told he was. He had seen the sickness that lurked in Victor first hand.

Romulus had told Daken about the decades James had spent, a prisoner of Victor's. He had been told how Victor had destroyed his father's mind, convincing him that he deserved what was being done to him. That was why James stayed all those years, Romulus had explained.

It was after meeting Romulus in World War II that James was able to leave Victor. Daken suspected that Romulus had wanted to take James as a lover, but James had still been so skittish that soon out of Victor's keep. And Romulus was nothing if not patient when it came to getting what he wanted.

After the war, James had wanted nothing more than to settle down and start a family. For some reason, he and Romulus were not together when James had been sent to Japan for his last deployment. During his stay, he had met Itsu. Madly in love, the two married and quickly conceived a child.

Victor had tracked down James in Japan. Itsu had been eight months pregnant-

Daken hated Victor.

Over the years, whenever he could, Daken would sneak off to check on his father. Once, he had snuck onto the base where his father had been working in the seventies. It had been easy enough for him to slip in undetected to find James. Daken was disturbed to find that his father and uncle were sharing a room together.

Neither man had woken from their sleep. Daken was silent, his scent masked from either of the feral brothers. He had had no real plan of what he was going to do once he was in the room. Daken shocked himself by lying down next to his father, curling around him.

Never waking, James had wrapped himself around his son, pulling the boy in close. Daken found himself relaxing into his father's embrace. This was what he had always wanted, to be loved by his father.

Romulus claimed to care for him, but he was certainly not the fatherly type. And Daken was not foolish enough to believe that he was more than a tool for Romulus to use. But at least he was on the right side of the coming war between the humans and the lupine.

That night, Daken had fallen asleep in his father's bed. Fortunately, it had only been for an hour and he had been able to sneak back off base before he had been noticed.

A month before liberating his father, Daken had again snuck off to check on his father again. Romulus had brought him to where Victor and his father were, claiming he wanted to check in James to give him his orders. He told Daken to stay out of sight.

Daken prided himself on being a good soldier for Romulus. But there was something about his father that made Daken willing to do whatever it took to get closer to him, even go against Romulus.

He had watched as Romulus and his father in front of the cabin, his father turning into a right slut for Romulus. James was grinding his ass against Romulus, before Romulus spun him around. Words were exchanged along with heated kisses; James had started jerking Romulus off.

Daken was shocked to discover that he had become aroused from watching the little display between his father and Romulus. A short while later found Daken sucking Romulus off. At least this time, Romulus had given him some pleasure in return.

He wasn't sure why, but later that night after Romulus had gone off to handle a few matters himself Daken had wandered back to the cabin. Daken pushed the front door open, slipping in undetected.

The bedroom door had been left open, not that Victor or James had to worry much about intruders this far out from civilization. Daken froze in shock.

And it took a lot to shock Daken.

His father was kneeling in the middle of the room, his arms bound behind his back with his eyes blindfolded. Victor had also put a cock ring on James. Daken watched in rapt fascination as Victor lovingly teased James's nipples with an ice cube. James hissed in pleasure, his back arcing in an attempt to gain further physical contact with his brother. Victor grabbed James roughly by the hair, forcing him into a biting kiss. He pulled out a fresh ice cube, which he pushed into James's ass without ever breaking their kiss.

James whined, pleading through the kiss. "Please, Victor, oh please, oh please," he groaned. "Fuck me, please. I need you to fuck me."

Daken watched in fascination and revulsion as his uncle proceeding to fuck his father, riding James raw. Daken wanted to kill his uncle in that moment.

Daken was shaking when he went back outside to crouch down beside the wood pile. This was his father, for fuck's sake. He had to do something.

Instead, he sat outside in the cold and was immobilized by his impotent rage.

Twenty minutes passed before Victor emerged from the cabin fully dressed. He got into his truck and drove off.

Daken slipped back into the cabin. He told himself it was just to check on his father.

James was curled up on the bed, naked. Victor's cooling seed was still leaking out of his ass. The smell of lust was strong in the air. One of the muscles in James's back twitched.

Approaching slowly, Daken was careful not to alert his father to his presence. Daken stood over James's slumbering form, reaching out to stroke his sweat slicked hair.

Daken realized he was painfully aroused. The vision of his father prostrate and begging to be fucked took a hold of him.

Not thinking, Daken had undone his pants. His cock was painfully hard, and his father was just lying there still loose from Victor. There is no rationality in Daken's mind now. Merely animalistic need.

Daken stops himself before he actually plunged into his father's ass. Instead, he jerks himself off imagining his father deep throating him, his free hand gripping his father's hair. Daken comes quickly, biting back his moans between pursed lips.

Daken rushed into the bathroom to clean himself up before taking a last look at his father.

Daken shook himself back into the present as the plane landed. He took a moment to glare at his uncle.

In some ways, Daken feared that Romulus was no better for his father than this bastard. That was why he had put Victor on his father's trail to begin with six months ago.

It was only a matter of time before Victor and Romulus fucked things up royally where James was concerned. James would realize the truth about both men.

And then it would be just James and Daken, father and son. Just like Romulus had promised Daken also those years ago.


	6. Chapter 5

_Authoress's note: WARNING: cop out ending ahead. Not for the whole story. Just for the Gehenna Stone piece. I was beginning to feel like there were too many characters in this story and I want to keep the focus on James/Jimmy/Logan and Victor (and the various men who want to have James/Jimmy/Logan as their Lover). So, the stone had to go. And when I had originally read this story in the comics, what happens is what kept going through my mind when I was reading it and going: why is this story arc six comics long when all you have to do is-_

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Romulus did not like it when things did not go according to plan. Oh, little mistakes and random coincidences were fine and he dealt with those easily enough.

But Victor showing up tonight was not one of those minor annoyances that could be so easily swept under the carpet. It took every bit of his self control not to simply grab James, drag him off to somewhere remote, and completely erase his memory. Of course, that also meant that he would have to completely abandon Daken, and Romulus seriously doubted leaving both a living Victor and a living Daken at his back would do either he or his lover any good.

"You," James whispered, moving around the bar slowly. He blinked owlishly at Victor. "What are you… How dare you…"

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

_Twelve Hours Ago_

James was not a happy man. Police Chief Tai was waiting for him when Romulus brought him over to the Princess bar. Romulus placed a reassuring hand on his back as the two of them walked up to the front door. He had filled his lover in on the activities of the previous night.

James had been less than pleased.

He was even less pleased now. James didn't much care of Tai on a good day. The man made it very hard for him to do a decent business whenever he came around.

James noticed several Yakuza thugs who were pretending to play some kind of dice game on the corner. That brought a small smile that he kept hidden. He had managed to make very nice with the Yakuza. They were all too eager to get in on Romulus's plans once James had given them a taste of what was to come.

And they were very good at taking care of problems for James when he couldn't afford to get his hands dirty personally. These lower level boys were always so eager to get on his good side, convinced that through pleasing him they would get a little closer to the coming glory.

Though Romulus told him that he would have to wait, as Tai still had some great role to play, James felt there would be something ironic about letting such a self important man like Tai get taken out by mere thugs. And for that, James was willing to wait.

"Morning, Police Chief," James greeted, bowing his head. "So I hear there was a little, ah, trouble last night."

Tai smirked. "I hardly consider a double homicide only a 'little' trouble, James." Reaching into his breast pocket, he pulled out a small flip notebook. James noticed that Tai had beautiful hand writing. Each character was flawless, an efficient piece of artwork. Also, Tai was writing in Japanese. Well, around here, that was an easy way to keep most people from spying on what you wrote.

Itsu had helped James learn over thirty years ago. But he didn't have time to dwell on the past.

James fished his keys out of his pocket and opened the door. "Why don't we take this conversation inside?" James offered. He waited for Tai and Romulus to precede him. He made brief eye contact with the Yakuza.

Message delivered: _No need to do anything yet. But stay on alert._

One of the Yakuza shouted in triumph, pointing at his friends and laughing. _Message received._

James walked into the Princess, flicking on the lights. When Tai wasn't looking, he wrinkled his nose. He could smell the cleaners that Tai's people had used to clean up after themselves, and the two dead men that had until several hours ago had been upstairs.

"Have you learned anything new since last night?" James asked softly, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. The lupine weren't prone to many of the aches and pains of humanity, but somehow they didn't get a pass on stress headaches. "And what am I not allowed to tell people?" Tai raised an eyebrow at him. "Tonight's gonna be hoppin'. We had a murder here- hell, two murders here. And everyone loves a good story."

Tai nodded in understanding. "Keep to the facts about what happened, but leave out the part about the diamond. It is well known that your… partner is looking for it. And it is also well known that you are the best way to get his attention." Tai smiled thinly. "Look for the biggest attention getters."

James began busying himself by taking the chairs off the table. "I don't suppose I will be getting O'Donnell back any time soon?"

"My plan is to release him so that he will arrive one hour after you open this evening," Tai explained. "He was the last one iknown/i to have had the diamond. And there is nothing like a grand entrance of the returning wrongly accused to shake loose a few good leads."

James nodded grimly. "Until then, I will see if I can dig anything up from a few friends of mine." After Tai left, James sat on one of the chairs trying to rub away the tension trying to beat its way out of his skull.

"Please tell me you have a plan for this," James asked resignedly.

Chuckling, Romulus began to rub James's shoulders. "Of course I do," he promised. "Even now, your son is on his way back to Madripoor with the final piece. If all goes well tonight, he should arrive just as you find the rest of the stone."

James stood and buried his face in Romulus's chest, taking comfort in the warmth of his scent. "When this part is all done, let's take a vacation. Just the three of us, let's go somewhere nice. I want to hunt something incapable of using guns."

Romulus smiled into the top of James's head. "I don't think we've ever been to the Amazon together, have we?" he asked softly. "I'll begin making the arrangements while you talk to your Yakuza friends."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

_Three hours ago_

After the plane had landed, Daken had his little unwanted entourage tucked safely away in a hotel. To appease his uncle, he had agreed to take the boy in the tacky red glasses with him when he announced that he had some arrangements to make.

Daken seriously doubted that Scott was capable of making a decision on his own yet. Well, capable of making a decision without looking like a total fool anyway.

And speaking of, Scott was proving to be more difficult to get rid of than fleas. Upon arriving at Daken's apartment, Scott had practically surgically attached himself to Daken. Which was giving Daken some very interesting ideas, pity that he didn't have time for that sort of thing though.

With a smile and whiff of pheromones, Scott was as complacent as a puppy with a new bone to sit on the couch and not bother Daken while he made a few calls.

The first was to Romulus, but he wasn't at home. Or he was too busy fucking James to be bothered. The second was to Police Chief Tai to find out if anything interesting had happened in his absence. And the police chief had quite a mouthful of information for Daken, including the plan for recovering the bulk of the stone.

Daken grimaced at that. This would mean stepping up his plans a bit, but that wouldn't prove to be too terrible of a problem.

He made several more calls before trying to reach Romulus again. This time, the elder feral answered.

"I was beginning to think you had run off on me," Romulus growled into the phone. Daken smirked._ You wish, old man._

"Of course not," Daken replied smoothly. _Not without my father. _"I just ran into a little vampire trouble stateside."

"You do have the stone." Not so much a question as a threat.

Daken grinned. "Of course I do. Shall I bring it to the house right away?"

"No, I want you to bring it to your father's bar later this evening."

Daken noted that Romulus seemed to be going out of his way to avoid saying his name. _Don't want Dad to know I'm back yet? Then you're going to **love **whose coming to help me deliver the stone to you tonight._"Very well," Daken said out loud, pretending to sound slightly confused.

Daken gripped the phone tighter when he would hear the mutter of his father's voice on the other end, asking some kind of question. He was almost tempted to demand that Romulus let him speak to James.

"I will see you then," Romulus said quickly before hanging up the phone.

Gritting his teeth, Daken took a moment to get himself under control. He was not about to tip his hand this close to his goal.

With a winsome smile, he walked out to pick up his charge. Scott looked at him, with what Daken assumed to be a glassy stare. It was hard to make out his eyes through those damned lenses. "All done, precious," he purred. "Let's get back to the hotel so we can make our plans for the evening."

Ten minutes later, Scott had his wits about him again and was none the wiser as he entered the hotel suite with Daken. Scott made eye contact with Victor, indicating that nothing untoward had happened.

Burt was talking animatedly to his brother and the two girls. When they noticed Daken's return, they all gathered together in a small group. "Well?" Victor demanded.

"The other chunk of this stone is most likely in the possession of a man calling himself 'O'Donnell' at the Princess Bar," Daken explained. "The local authorities are currently holding him in custody for questioning after two brothers murdered each other last night. Apparently, they were originally in possession of the stone."

"So, if we get the stone in its entirety, then we have something to bargain with Romulus for James's return," Storm reasoned.

Archie grimaced. "I don't know about that, young lady. I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but I've met James a few times since he also works at the Princess. And he didn't exactly seem to be a prisoner of Romulus's." He glanced warily at Victor, wondering how much he knew about his younger brother's… personal life. "In fact, he and Romulus seem to be pretty close to each other. I don't think James is going to iwant/i to leave."

Daken's mind spun to keep things under control. He hadn't realized that Archie knew his father. "First off, given what this stone may do, we don't want Romulus getting it in his possession. I was thinking about using it to lure my father back to the United States. Once we get him away from Romulus, I believe that Romulus's control over him will fade."

Jean nodded. "We could even take him to the Professor," she added. "He might be able to help James."

The rest of the group seemed to be in agreement.

Victor decided to keep his peace for the time being. He suspected that there was no way in hell that his nephew was going to let them take Jimmy to the Professor. Victor knew he would have to find a way to quietly get rid of Daken.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

_Ten minutes ago_

Everyone was full of questions at the Princess that night. James did his best to keep up with drink orders while giving out minimal information.

He was shocked when his son walked through the door. Daken smiled easily at him, taking a seat at the end of the bar.

James quickly poured a few more drinks before indicating to one of the bar maids, Jessica, to fill in for him. He wandered down to Daken. "When did you get back?" he asked, pulling his son into a warm embrace.

"Several hours ago, didn't Romulus tell you? I called him to let him know," Daken asked, voice full of concern.

James frowned. Something tickled at the back of his mind. Why wouldn't Romulus have told him of Daken's return? "Things have been crazy here. Apparently, we had a double homicide last night and a giant diamond turned up missing," he explained. "Add to it that the two dead guys were twin brothers, and here's what you get."

Daken nodded sympathetically. Earlier that night, it had gone unnoticed when he had lifted the final stone fragment from Burt's pocket. "I don't suppose there are any secret compartments in this place that you don't know about?"

James snorted. "I wish it was that easy." He frowned over Daken's shoulder as O'Donnell entered the bar to cheers and questions. "Let's hope he has a few of the answers."

O'Donnell was grinning and talking as James went back to serving. He wondered where O'Donnell could have hidden the diamond. James caught the eyes of one of several Yakuza that had been loaned to him for the evening. They were here to make sure that nothing was missed upon O'Donnell's return.

James reached into the cooler that they kept the ice for the drinks in. What his hand touched was definitely not ice for a drink. Glancing down, he saw the diamond covered by his fingers. "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered softly. There was no way it could be that easy.

O'Donnell's hand suddenly closed around his wrist. "What are you doing, James?" he asked, friendly and dangerous at the same time. "That doesn't belong to you."

"Uh, last time I checked, it didn't belong to you either," James replied, his hand starting to ache from the cold, but refusing to let go of the diamond.

"Finders keepers," O'Donnell shot back, trying unsuccessfully to pull James's hand away. "Besides, you only plan on giving it to your boyfriend. And God only knows what he wants to do with it. You think I don't know what you two are up to? Maybe I should clue in the dear police chief. Or how about Old Uncle Sam? Do you think the Americans would be too happy if they found out what you and Romulus are doing? I bet they would ilove/i to get their hands on your terrorist lover."

"What the fuck is wrong with you, O'Donnell? Have you lost your mind?"

O'Donnell suddenly pulled out a gun. He fired one shot into the air. The bar had become deathly still. "Everyone get the fuck out of here!" he yelled. The majority of the patrons decided that this was very good advice and fled.

All that remained was James and his son, the three Yakuza, and Police Chief Tai. O'Donnell suspected that Romulus was somewhere as well. But he wasn't thinking very clearly at the moment. He leveled the gun at James's midsection. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Just give me the diamond and everything will be just fine," he promised, madness in his eyes.

Before anyone could reply, the bar door was blasted open. O'Donnell jumped, giving Daken an opening to knock the gun away by breaking O'Donnell's wrist. A gust of wind followed, whipping through the bar, rendering Tai and the Yakuza unconscious.

Three teenagers walked in. "What the fuck are you three supposed to be?" James asked.

Before anyone could answer, Victor walked in behind them. Time seemed to stop as the two brothers looked at each other.

"You," James whispered, moving around the bar slowly. He blinked owlishly at Victor. "What are you… How dare you…"

"Jimmy," Victor whispered, his voice caught in his throat. After almost a year of fruitless searching, here was his brother in the flesh right in front of him.

"You son of a bitch," James growled lowly, one set of claws all ready out. "I'm gonna kill you."

Victor looked confused. "What the hell did Romulus do to you, Jimmy?" he asked, holding his hands up to indicate that he meant no harm.

"A hell of a lot more for me that you ever did, you sick bastard," James ground out, both sets of metal claws at the ready by his sides. "I don't know what lies you told these kids to get them here, but I am going absolutely nowhere with you."

"Jimmy… Jimmy, listen: Romulus has done something to your mind. He's fucked you up pretty bad," Victor tried to explain before things got out of control. "But I've met someone who can help sort out your head."

"Oh, so if you're telling the truth, I should go from one guy messing around in my head to someone you know to mess around in my head?" James snorted.

"Yes… no, Jimmy, it's not like that. If you would just come meet the guy-"

"Does he know how you used to rape James?" Romulus purred, appearing from the shadows.

"What? No, it wasn't like that." Victor could feel his anger starting to rise. How _dare _this asshole try to twist things around on him. He had _never_ lied to his little brother like this sick fuck had just to get him in bed and to do what he wanted.

Romulus chuckled, pretending to examine his claws. "But you don't deny raping him," he pointed out. "Nothing says true love like forced sex."

Victor glared at Romulus. "You tell me," he shot back. "Do you think Jimmy would still want to be with you if you hadn't completely fucked up his memory? He's only with you because you made him believe that's what he wants."

Romulus grinned wickedly. "Oh, my dear boy, James does love me. That isn't something even I could falsely convince him of."

Victor gave an equally nasty smile. "But you don't deny falsifying his memories."

James's head was spinning. None of this was making any sense to him. He needed answers. Why did seeing Victor make him long for something he couldn't remember?

It was at this point that the vampires finally made their appearance, effectively ending the conversation.

Of all the great battles in history, this one would thankfully be forgotten and never written about again. It was over almost before it began. There were some superficial punches thrown.

Fortunately, no one had noticed Burt quietly making his way over to the bar. Since everyone was distracted by the vampire fight, Burt grabbed the diamond. He placed it on the bar and, using a hammer that he had tucked into his belt, pounded the shit out of it.

Everyone stared at the now pulverized diamond in shock. With a cheeky grin, Burt puffed up his cheeks and blew the bits of diamond dust all over the bar.

"Well, that takes care of the vampire god," Burt said happily. Then, whistling a bright tune, he started to walk back out of the bar.

Nobody quite knew what to make of what had just happened. Scott summed it up nicely: "Well, that was stupid and unexpected."

Burt chuckled. "Well, it was certainly the easiest answer to our vampire problem," he said. "No stone, no vampires." And with that, he left.

The vampires, apparently feeling equally foolish- and most likely eager not to get staked- also silently left the bar.

"Wait, where did your brother go?" Storm asked.

Both Victor and Romulus looked around frantically. James had indeed disappeared.


	7. Chapter 6

Victor was in desperate need of something to kill, preferably something wriggly and squealing.

Jimmy had been right there in front of him, only a few feet away. All Victor had needed to do was grab his brother, shuffle him out of the bar, and get Jimmy outside so he could explain things. Instead he had wasted precious time trying to justify himself to Romulus when he should have gotten Jimmy away so his little brother could clear his head out a bit.

With a frustrated snarl, Victor tore halfway through the trunk of a tree in a single swipe of claws. "Mother fucker!" he shouted.

To make things worse, Jimmy had disappeared into the mass of bodies choking the streets of Lowtown. The multitude of scents and Victor's rage mixed together to make tracking Jimmy next to impossible.

Victor plunged into the crowd, pushing and shoving people out of his way. Jimmy couldn't have gotten that far.

Madripoor wasn't that big, after all.

Victor came to a halt, turning his nose to the wind. Jimmy's scent wafted down to him. It was stale, old, but it was all Victor had to go on.

Victor slowed down, determination sharpening the focus of his thoughts. Eyes narrowed, Victor had barely noticed that he had wandered into one of the more opulent neighborhoods.

The trail led Victor to a tower that seemed to have been carved from crystal. Guards armed with sawed off shot guns were negligibly noticeable. Frowning, he wondered how he was going to get inside.

A cool, soft hand on his forearm startled Victor. His lips were pulled back to bear his fangs when he realized that it was Jean at his side.

"Do you think your brother is in there?" she asked quietly. Jean tried to offer what she hoped was a comforting smile.

Victor closed his eyes, taking a moment to calm himself. "Jimmy has been here recently," Victor said stiffly. "But his scent is all over this place. I'm willing to bet he lives here. He'll have to come home soon."

Jean grinned. "I think I can help you get it in to wait for him."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Romulus was struggling to keep his rage in check as he paced around the main room of the Princess Bar. He had been unable to find James by either scent or telepathy. All he could get was a jumble of confused thoughts.

James could be anywhere.

As soon as he realized James was truly missing and that Victor had taken his little band of merry teenagers with him to find his brother, Romulus had ordered Tai to shut Madripoor down. No one in or out of the island without Romulus's say so.

Not so long after James, Daken had also disappeared. Romulus wanted to rip that little bastard's throat out. Who else could have led Victor right to James?

Both brother and son would need to die. Romulus would just need to erase both of their existences from James's memory. And then those teenagers would need to go, along with Xavier. _No one_ was taking James away from him again.

With a howl of frustration, Romulus threw a table across the room causing it to shatter on the opposite wall. He smashed his fist into one of the bar mirrors. Half of the furniture and several shelves of liquor were destroyed in Romulus's temper fit.

Romulus stood panting in the middle of the bar, when he was startled by the sound of a throat being cleared behind him.

"What is it, Tai?" Romulus ground out, not bothering to turn around. "And for your sake, I hope you have good news."

There was a spike of fear in Tai's scent. "My lord, the island has been locked down as you requested. My men are still searching for James. But you know how difficult he is to find when he does not wish to be found."

Romulus dug his claws into the meat of his palm. James occasionally had… small mental break downs from time to time. He would start to remember who he used to be. Even worse, he started to revert to being "Jimmy".

And Jimmy did not like Romulus one bit.

Since coming to Madripoor, Jimmy had only made one appearance after James had inadvertently noticed Stryker's man, Wade Wilson, was following him. Jimmy had taken over and went into hiding for nearly a week. Romulus nearly ripped Madripoor to shreds trying to find him. Then James just ambled into their home and acted as if nothing had happened.

The most frustrating part was that whenever Romulus went into James's mind to try and eradicate Jimmy, he was nowhere to be found.

Tai shifted nervously on his feet. "If I may make a suggestion, my lord: James may have just gone home to get away from all of the excitement," Tai offered.

Romulus grit his teeth. "Then that is where I shall be," he growled. "Your search for my partner is the most important task your men have at this moment, Police Chief. Do not disappoint me."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Daken was certain he was going insane. Given what he knew of his father, he was beginning to wonder if perhaps this was a family trait.

Everything had been going so smoothly, until those damned vampires had shown up. Victor and Romulus had been well on their way to tearing each other apart, thus by saving Daken the trouble of having to do so himself and keeping his hands clean.

Then the vampires had distracted everyone and his father had disappeared.

To make matters worse, now Daken was filled with too many questions. He knew about Romulus lying to his father. But Romulus had assured him that it was for James's own good.

But the past few days had poked too many holes in Romulus's story. Things just weren't adding up as neatly as they had used too.

Daken didn't like this mess his life was becoming. He wasn't being given enough time to process all of this conflicting information.

While running through the streets after his father, the answer became a simple one:

Romulus and Victor were the problem. They were the two obstacles that stood between him and having the life with his father that he wanted. If they refused to kill each other off, Daken would simply have to take the bull by the horns and get his father as far away from both of them as he possibly could. Over the years, Daken had made enough contacts of his own to disappear with James.

Then, once they had a moment to catch their breaths and sort things out, Daken would have his uncle and Romulus killed. It would take some hard work, but Daken knew it would be worth it.

But first he had to find his father.

Daken changed tracks and started heading towards his father's home.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

With Jean's telepathy, getting past the guard and into the full floor apartment that was Romulus and James's home had been easy. Victor found himself sneering at all of the unnecessary belongings in the home as he stalked through the rooms. Romulus may have lined the cage with beautiful trappings, but it was still a _cage._

He found sudden stillness when he entered the bedroom. The sheets were still rumpled. Victor could only imagine what Romulus and Jimmy had been doing in that bed only hours ago. Was this what Jimmy had really wanted all along?

Victor slowly sat on the edge of the bed, running a hand over the pillows. Jimmy's scent was so strong here. Eyes drooping to half mast, Victor found himself lying down. Jimmy had been here. Jimmy had fucked here.

Meanwhile, Jean was standing with Storm and Scott in the dining room trying to occupy their time by looking at some of the artwork.

"Do you really think that stuff Romulus said about Victor is true?" Scott finally threw out in a hushed tone. "About him raping his brother?"

Jean frowned for a moment. "I don't know about that, but I do know that Victor does love Jimmy," she answered. "I think that their relationship may seem really wrong to those who don't know them. But there is something about the two of them, at least in Victor's mind, which makes them right for each other. And I also got the feeling that this Romulus plans to use Jimmy for something very, very bad. Victor may have hurt his brother once, but I don't think he meant to harm him."

"And he is definitely the lesser evil when compared to Romulus," Storm pointed out.

The only warning the other two had that anything was wrong was the stiffening of Jean's back. The elevator pinged open and Romulus came storming in.

"Oh, fuck," Scott muttered.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

James glanced up blearily at his son as he staggered towards home. His thoughts were crashing against each other in his head. He had to put serious effort into getting one foot in front of the next to go forward.

_No. No. NO. I don't want to go back to Romulus!_

James clenched his jaw. Those couldn't be his thoughts. He glanced around suspiciously but saw no one other than Daken nearby.

Staring at the brick that led up to his building, James realized that he was talking to himself. "Right foot. Left foot. Right foot… stop that. Stop talking to yourself," he muttered.

James jumped when an arm came around his shoulders, the claws on his right hand springing out. "It's me, Dad," the person assured him. "It's Daken."

James blinked furiously, his mind trying to figure out if he knew this person. "Daken," he mumbled. "Daken… my son, yes, you're my son. My son." James reached out and patted Daken's arm, then clung to it for support as his world tipped to the left. "Home. I need to go home. Now. I think."

_This isn't home! Why are you taking me here? Home has snow around it. And trees, lots of trees. This place is all wrong!_

"No, this is home," James said. "This is where Romulus and I live. Here. Home."

_I DON'T like it HERE, _came the petulant reply. James had the distinct feeling that whoever was talking to him was decidedly pouting right now.

"Well, too damned bad, 'cause this is where I live," James snapped. He shook his head and then pushed Daken away. "Who the hell are you? Where are you taking me? Fuck off!"

Daken was shaken. His father was babbling to himself, seemed almost drunk. A sane James he could handle. But who the hell was this? "Dad, we need to get out of here," Daken spoke slowly. "Some very bad people have messed with your mind. I need to get you somewhere so you can get yourself back together."

James roughly shoved Daken onto the sidewalk. "I don't have a fucking son!" he snarled, his feet shuffling as he struggled to stay upright. "I don't know who you are, and I'm going home."

_No! No! Listen to him. He can get us away from the Bad Man._

"And you shut the hell up!" James yelled, swiping his hand in the air at the tormenter only he could hear.

Daken quickly got back up. Romulus had obviously put some kind of failsafe in James's mind. That was what had to be happening. Taking a deep breath through his nose, he moved in to subdue his father. "Dad, I am your son and you're just confused right now-"

"Excuse me, sir, but do you need help getting home?" one of the better dressed guards asked coming up from behind. He placed a firm hand on James's elbow, guiding him back towards the tower.

"Who're you?" James slurred.

"My name is Steven, sir," the guard answered. "I work here. I am going to help you get home now."

"Home, yes, home," James mumbled, allowing himself to be led.

Daken was tired of this shit. He calmly reached out and snapped Steven's neck. James tried to say something, but apparently had lost his ability to walk and talk at the same time as he crashed back to the sidewalk.

Apparently someone had called the police, as Daken quickly found himself surrounded by both the tower guards and the police. He caught a glimpse of his father being shuffled off into the tower by two guards.

"Damn it," Daken hissed.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Romulus first caught sight of the three teenagers from earlier. Victor's scent was also heavy in the air. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he snarled.

"We've come to get Jimmy," Jean said confidently, moving to stand in front of the other two.

Romulus actually paused for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed. He managed to stop for a moment, but realized the girl was actually serious and started to laugh again. "You?" he sputtered. "You three are going to stop me? The armies of Rome couldn't stop me, what hope do three teenagers and that fool in my bedroom have of doing so?"

Scott responded by blasting Romulus in the midsection, sending him crashing into a glass case. "Well, for one thing, the Romans couldn't do that," Scott pointed out.

Romulus groaned, slowly getting to his feet as his body quickly healed the damage inflicted upon it. "Cute," he rumbled. "Very cute. Tell me, how exactly are you planning on getting James off of this island? I've had Madripoor locked up tight."

The teens looked between themselves. Romulus used the distraction to lunge forward. The three clearly had the theory of combat down; it was the practical application they needed to work on. Scott managed to score another shot, but it was only a glancing blast on Romulus's shoulder. Romulus picked the boy up by his neck, tossing him through a set of doors into the bedroom.

Jean tried to push her way into Romulus's mind, but wound up screaming in terror. Storm panicked, not sure what she could do in an enclosed space, when Victor charged into Romulus's back. The two men snarled, clawed, and bit each other as the wrestled for dominance on the dining room floor. Blood and flesh quickly splattered the walls as they tore at each other.

The elevator pinged as it opened to reveal James swaying on his feet between two of the tower guards. James tried to stagger forward, losing his balance almost instantly. The guards struggled to hold him upright.

Romulus used the distraction of James to toss Victor into the stone dining room table. Hissing in pleasure, Romulus dragged Victor by his hair from the table to the floor. "Kill the other three," he ordered the guards.

"Sir?" one of the guards asked nervously.

"I said fucking kill the other three!"

"_NO! Stop it!"_ That voice was not James's. Romulus stared in shock at his trembling mate who had collapsed in on himself in the middle of the foyer. "_Don't do that._ Damn it, will you shut the fuck up? _No! I want to leave. I want to get away from here!_ Then just go. This is where I live. _But I don't like it here! _**He doesn't give a shit what you want, so quit your fucking whining, boy!"**

James was looking about wildly. "Do you hear that?" he asked Romulus, a lost look on his face. "Who are those people? What the hell do they want?"

"James, everything is going to be all right," Romulus promised. "Just let me finish taking care of these four, and then I will make everything all right."

"By lying to him some more?" Victor chortled. "How much longer do you think this will last? He's going bat shit insane again. Take it from me: this doesn't end well for him."

Romulus roared, digging his claws into Victor's chest. Suddenly, James had his own metal claws buried deep into Romulus's shoulders, driving him back. "_Leave my brother alone!" _Jimmy screeched. _"You leave him the fuck alone!"_ James looked at his hands in shock, pulling the claws out. "What the hell is going on?" he gasped.

"Jimmy, it's going to be all right," Victor soothed, moving stiffly forward with his hands out in supplication. "I just need you to trust me. I'm going to get you some real help this time. No Stryker or experiments or psycho old guys fucking up your head. But I need you to trust me."

Jimmy bit his lips, leaning against Victor. "_Can we go home now? I don't like it here,"_ he whimpered. James shoved Victor away. "Get the hell away from me. Who the fuck do you think you are? You killed my wife, you nearly killed my son, you tortured me for years-"

"Jimmy… James, it didn't happen like that," Victor explained, struggling to keep a level tone. It would be so much easier to beat his brother unconscious. But that would take a long time, and he doubted Romulus would stay out of the way. "You have a very serious problem here, but I know someone who can help you."

Logan snorted. "**Oh, I remember the 'help' you gave your brother last time just fine, boy. And I'll be damned if I let that happen again.**" James clapped his hands over his ears. "Stop it. Stop it. Stop it!"

"Listen, James, you have a couple of extra voices in your head," Victor said, trying to circle in closer to his brother. He noticed Jean crouching down. She indicated that she needed to put her hands on James's head. "And this friend of mine can get them out for you-"

"**You just want your baby brother all nice and tame so you can fuck him again**," Logan sneered at his son. **"Well, that just ain't gonna happen, pup."**

Jean made a mad lunge to get her hands on James, but Logan was quicker. He caught her by the throat and carelessly threw her aside.

"Dad! Stop this!" Daken yelled. He had managed to either kill or subdue the men on the ground. Daken would have interfered sooner, but he had been shocked by his father's behavior. "Look, let's just all calm down and be rational about this." Keeping his eyes on James/Jimmy/Logan, he used a calming set of pheromones. "Everything is going to be fine."

James began to wobble. Yes, everything would be just fine-

"No! Don't!" Jean's terrified scream pierced his enhanced calm.

Romulus pulled out a sword and was swinging it at Daken's head. James roared and again attacked Romulus, pinning him to the floor and knocking the sword away. "Don't you fucking hurt my son!"

Logan chuckled darkly. "**Hey, boy, did you know who really killed your mother? It was Romulus here," **Logan grinned cruelly down at Romulus, who was squirming on his claws. **"Bet you didn't know we knew about that, did ya? Yep, Ole Romulus couldn't stand that my boy was going to leave him for some woman. So he killed your momma. Poor old Jimmy damn near killed him that time too. But he weren't no match for Romulus's mind powers back then."**

Daken felt like he was going to throw up. He knew that this was the truth.

Logan sneered at Romulus. **"But you couldn't let him get bogged down by some mewling child could you? Did you think about killing the pup? Naw, you knew you would need something to control Jimmy with later. And what better than a beautiful son?"** Logan turned his gaze back to Daken, sniffing the air. **"Well, well, looks like you and yer uncle have a little something in common. Wanna fuck yer daddy, huh?"**

James withdrew his claws. He stared at his son in horror. "What?" James had heard everything, Logan made damned sure of that. His eyes danced around the room wildly. "Is there anyone in this room who doesn't want to fuck me?"

Scott poked his head in. "Um, I don't."

"Oh, good, well, that makes one," James snapped. "_Trust Victor and his friends. Victor has always taken good care of us before,"_ Jimmy piped up. "**Sure he has, after he turned you into a weak, sniveling cur who begged for scraps at the table."**

James's shoulders suddenly drooped. "I can't take this anymore," he muttered, backing away from everyone dejectedly.

"And you shouldn't have to!"

James's head snapped around. "Who the hell are you?" he groaned. "Are you real? Another voice in my head? Someone who just wants to fuck me?"

"Wilson, what the hell are you doing here?" Victor snarled.

"Wilson… Wade?" James asked dreamily. His mind was in a lot of little pieces now. Maybe going completely insane was truly the best way to go. "I think I know you."

"That's right, we were real good friends back in the day. I remember the last time we saw each other. I was in red, you were in nude. We were just getting to the good part when your ancient sugar daddy here decided to make us put our reconnection on a very long hold." Wade glared at Romulus. "That was very rude by the way. You didn't even let us get a quick snuggle in." He smiled winningly at James. "I'm a champion snuggler by the way. Would you like to get the hell out of here?"

James shrugged limply. "Sure, why not?"

Romulus chuckled darkly. "And how are you planning to get off the island-"

"My god, are you a broken record or what? No wonder you have to keep erasing Jamie's memory. You've told him the same stories a million times. You can't have him getting bored and leaving you, so just a quick mind wipe and everything old is new again. Beef jerky?" Wade offered James a piece of jerky that he had pulled out of one of his many pockets. "And speaking of records: for the record, I all ready arranged transportation off this piece of shit island. I have friends with great benefits, you know. Seriously, why the fuck did you pick Madripoor? I mean it has a certain charm, but the hookers are ugly and overpriced. And try getting a decent steak in this town."

"Please, shut up," James groaned, eating his jerky slowly. "I have enough voices in my head all ready, Wade."

Wade was about to ramble some more when the sound of helicopter blades approaching made him look up. "All right, snuggle bunny, looks like our ride is here." Wade clasped a strong hand on James's waist and led him out onto the balcony. "I would love to engage in mortal combat with you guys, but it is way past Jamie's bedtime. And when he doesn't get enough sleep, he is a bear to deal with. So, let's do this again some time!"

An unmarked helicopter hovered over the balcony as Wade and James walked towards it. Victor and Daken tried to stop the two men from getting aboard, but were cut short by bullets to the chest.

Managing to lift his head, Victor caught sight of Stryker smirking at him with a jaunty little wave as Jimmy once more disappeared.


	8. Chapter 7

Wade was as happy as the proverbial clam, lying propped up in his bed on one arm like a teenage girl in his bed. He reached out to brush a stray strand of hair off of James's brow. Stryker had agreed to let Wade watch over James for the next couple of weeks until it was time to wipe his memory clean again.

So, for now, James stared sightlessly at the ceiling and watched visions only he could see. Stryker's doctors had given Wade an ample supply of pills and needles filled with iridescent liquids to keep James happy and content. The drugs kept James in one of two moods: spacey or horny.

Unfortunately for Wade, who had just gotten himself worked up in a practice session and then his mind ran away with fantasies of what he was going to do with James once he got out of the shower, the doctors had all ready given James his daily morning regiment of medications before Wade had gotten back to the room. Wade was all revved up to go while James was lost in one of his waking dreams.

Wade had found it easier to keep James naked in his bed all of the time. Even though his mind was clearly elsewhere, James's body was always quick to respond to the gentlest of touches. Wade generally preferred James to be an active participant in their bedroom games. But today he was too aroused to actually care as he tenderly placed kisses and light bites on James's collar bone.

Quickly shedding his own clothing, Wade peeled back the soft blue fleece that was decorated with white fluffy clouds, stars, and moons from covering James's body. James flailed about weakly with one arm. "Gimme back… nice blanket," James slurred. "Warm."

Smiling, Wade traced lazy circles over James's chest and belly. James's mind returned to the ceiling, but his body was beginning to take interest in Wade's ministrations. Wade briefly wondered what was so fascinating on the ceiling. He glanced up to notice the morning sunlight was filtered through several crystals and glass sun catchers to make a wonderful play of rainbows. Who knew what James thought they were.

Grumbling, squeezed the last bit of lubricant out of the tube. He made a mental note to swipe a few more tubes from the med lab as soon as he could. With slicked up fingers, Wade gently circled the puckered opening to James's body. James moaned happily, spreading his thighs a bit. "More," he begged Wade softly. "I want more." James reached between his legs, grasping Wade's wrist and trying to push his fingers inside.

Wade gladly pushed two fingers into James's all too willingly body, earning a pleased groan from James. Wade bent down to suck on the side of James's throat. James reached up, running his fingers through Wade's hair.

"Do you want me to suck you off?" James asked sleepily, loosely grinding against Wade's hip.

Wade's body almost ended things right then and there. He gave putting his cock in James's mouth a momentary thought. But James looked as if he might pass out at any moment, probably no decent suction once that happened. "Not today, Snuggle Bunny," Wade murmured, stretching James by scissoring his fingers.

"But I want too," James sulked, his eyes all ready starting to droop closed.

Chuckling, Wade withdrew his fingers. James groaned at the loss, wrapping his legs around Wade's waist in an open invitation. Wade needed no further prompting, burying his cock in James's willing heat in a single stroke.

"Oh, Jimmy," Wade babbled, thrusting wildly into James's unresisting body. "Jimmy, oh Jimmy, my Jimmy." Wade bit his lip and grunted as he came. Glancing down, Wade realized that James had fallen asleep at some point.

"Stupid sleepy time drugs," Wade grumbled, easing out of his sleeping bed mate. He would have to make it up to James later. Wade planned to give James a little extra of the drugs that made him so eager to fuck, maybe take a little for himself too, after lunch.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

After lunch, Wade decided that James needed a bath while waiting for his happy pills to kick in. Actually, both of them needed a good bath. And bathing together was always so much fun!

**Stryker is not going to like it if you flood you bathroom again.**

"Shut up, little yellow box," Wade sneered, dumping the entire bottle of Mr. Bubble into the bathtub as it was filling just to prove a point. Wade briefly wondered if taking some of James's medication was such a good idea. The little yellow boxes tended to get more talkative when he took them. "Bath time should be fun time. And I know that Jimmy totally missed out on this when he was a kid. You know, back when people thought that if you were too clean, the Devil would take your soul or some shit."

"Whatcha doin'… Wade?" James slurred, shuffling into the bathroom wearing only Wade's pink bunny slippers. He sat heavily on the floor and instantly became amused by the bubbles that had all ready taken over the tub. "Pretty."

Wade dipped one hand into the tub to make certain that the water was not too hot, before encouraging James to his feet. "Yes, pretty," he agreed, urging James out of the slippers and into the tub. "And now to make you smell good too."

If not for Wade's fast reflexes, James would have cracked his head on the bathroom wall as he collapsed into a sitting position in the tub. His body mostly hidden by bubbles, James tipped his head up to look at Wade through heavily lidded eyes. Clearly the medication Wade had given him with his lunch was starting to kick in. "I think I may need some help washing my back, Wade," he purred. "Care to help me?"

Swallowing thickly, Wade was out of his own clothing in record time and into the tub at James's back. With a quick dip of a washcloth in the rapidly rising soapy water, Wade slowly traced circles with the cloth across James's back. James moaned, reaching into the water to lightly massaged Wade's legs.

**You better turn off the water, or the overflow will go into North's room again. And he does so enjoy ruining your good times.**

"Good idea," Wade replied to the yellow box, turning off the tap. James caught him in a kiss as he started to lie back in the tub. The two men twisted around each other, erections sliding against each other. James hissed in pleasure, stretching out his neck to offer it to Wade, an invitation that was gladly accepted with heated nips.

The two men slid around each other like eels. Wade realized one of the draw backs to bath tub sex, especially one as large as the tub that Wade had: someone had to nearly drown if they were on the bottom. While James could heal from almost any injury, Wade doubted that he would survive being drowned. And Wade wasn't too keen on the idea of necrophilia.

With a bit of urging, Wade managed to get James to drape himself over the side of the tub. Wade groaned as he pressed up against soap slick skin, watching the glittering trails created by bubbles as they slid back into the water from James's back. "Guess the pills are kicking in for me too," Wade whispered into James's hair, giving his lover's ass a good squeeze. "So, what are you in the mood for this afternoon, Cuddle Bug?"

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

David North grit his teeth in frustration, glaring at the third chapter of _Red Dragon_. He had been trying to read the third chapter for the past twenty minutes. Why did his room have to been directly below Wade', especially now that he had his new little ass toy to play with?

All he had wanted to do since returning from Madripoor was read his damned book in peace. Instead he had to listen to the constant thumping, moaning, groaning, and screaming that had become common place from the room above.

It was only knowing what Stryker had planned for the two men in one day that kept him from running upstairs and killing Wade.

Just one more day and all of this nonsense would be over. Then David could get on with his life the way it was meant to be.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Stryker glared at the report pages on his desk as if he would frighten them back into focus. His glasses were in his left hand, but Stryker just didn't want to admit that another phase of old age was catching up with him.

Though he found the idea of two men having… relations with each other abhorrent, Wade and James were only mutants. James was proving to be a wonderful distraction for Wade. Much more work was getting done around the base without Wade's constant interruptions or accidents.

And Stryker knew that he would have to act fast to set James to rights before that damnable Romulus took his prized weapon away again. That was the only reason he had put the Weapon XI project on hold: Wade would be needed to kill Romulus when he inevitably showed up to collect James before the memory erasing procedure was complete.

Thanks to improvements in the technology at his disposal, Stryker now had ways to keep James under his complete control all with a few key strokes on a computer and a few chips in James's brain. The same would soon be done for Wade after his… upgrades.

Stryker would not lose this time when he was so close to his end goal.


	9. Chapter 8

No one dares to even speak to Victor on the flight back to the Mansion, much less try to approach him. He is silent, perfectly still in his seat with his hands lightly on his knees.

Only one thought kept racing through his mind: _Jimmy has been taken from me by Stryker. Again._

After several hours, his thoughts began to settle and grow. So much more was becoming clear to Victor. It wasn't going to be a simple matter of getting Jimmy straightened out. There were things that Victor had done that couldn't just be glossed over.

He would need to do something he was never good at: Victor was going to need to atone for his sins.

But first Victor needed to deal with Stryker and Romulus. As long as they were in the world, they would be a constant threat to Jimmy's safety.

The problem with that was the Professor. There was no way in hell that Xavier would let Victor just go on a killing spree, even if it was the best way to deal with the problem.

Victor was still wrestling with the Stryker/Romulus problem when the jet landed back at the Institute. He stood slowly, taking a deep breath as he rose. He barely noticed that he was the only one who exited the jet. _Little shits must be terrified,_ Victor smirked inwardly.

Xavier was waiting for him. "Of course, killing is out of the question, Victor." Apparently there would be no time wasted on pleasantries, like pretending that he hadn't been reading Victor's mind. Not that mind reading had actually been necessary, as the burly man was wearing his intentions on his face.

"I had all ready figured as much, Charlie," Victor growled, following Xavier toward his office. "But I can't just ignore that these two assholes are both responsible for fucking my little brother up."

Xavier decided to let the cursing pass for now. "Be careful how you categorize people, Victor, lest you fall into that category yourself," he calmly replied.

Victor stiffened perceptibly. "Don't you think I know that?" he finally said softly, not looking Xavier directly in the eyes. "I know that I have a great deal to answer for to Jimmy. But I need to make sure that Romulus and Stryker can't hurt him anymore. Even if that means I may lose Jimmy forever, at least I will know that he won't be in danger of anyone else messing him up. I just want him to have a chance at living his own life. I just want to have a chance to make things right between us."

Chuckling quietly as he sat behind his desk, Xavier looked at Victor over his hands. "And here I was thinking that I wasn't getting through to you after all of this time," he mused. "Ironically, Romulus will be the easiest problem to deal with. While you were in Madripoor, I spoke with a man who is somewhat sympathetic to your plight- if only because it will help him put a major world threat behind bars. The trick is going to make sure that we can keep in Romulus in one place long enough for the arrest to take place."

Victor snorted disbelievingly. "The man is probably thousands of years old. I sincerely doubt that anyone can hold him."

Xavier smiled thinly. "While not admitting that mutants exist publically, the government has been taking… measures to incarcerate mutants who break the law," he explained. "Any of the current prisons are incapable of holding most mutants, and place the rest of the prison population at risk."

"And we certainly need to make sure that our felons are safe," Victor grinned. "But what about Stryker?"

Xavier sighed heavily through his nose. "Stryker poses a more serious threat because he has protection by the government as the result of some well placed 'friends'," he said. "It would be wonderful to have him incarcerated as well. But the most we can probably reasonably hope for is destroying the Weapon X project. That would give us the time to work with your brother to get him strong enough to defend himself against the likes of Stryker."

Victor nodded. "So how do we do all of this?"

"We're going to need to work fast. Erik's contact in the government told him that Stryker is getting ready to go back to work on your brother within the next few days. Once we deal with Stryker, and then we will deal with Romulus."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Daken was pissed as hell. Not only had his entire life fallen apart in the last twenty-four hours, but he was being forced to sit in economy class on his trip over to the States.

And he was giving serious thought to stabbing the five year old in the seat behind him who insisted on continually kicking his seat.

He realized his mistake now. Daken had tried to out fox too many people with far too complicated a plan. The more twists and turns he had added, the easier it had been for everything to go to hell in a hand basket.

Daken has honestly let himself believe that he could set Stryker, Romulus, and Victor against each other and easily abscond with his father. Besides the now very obvious flaws in his plan, he had counted on his father slipping back into madness again.

James's insanity was presenting a whole new slew of difficulties for Daken. He knew that he would be able to get his father away from Stryker. He knew that he could hide his father from both Romulus and Victor for a long time.

But James was completely mad now. Insanity was not something that Daken even remotely knew how to handle.

His only hope now was that this "Dr. Essex" who had contacted him a few years back would be able to do something for his father.

Daken had no delusions about exactly what type of man Essex was. This was the man who had created the very process that allowed for the adamantium to be bonded to his father's bones. Essex was well over a century old and worked for a man he called "En Sabah Nur". Daken's research into En Sabah Nur was that he was like Romulus, a genetic supremacist who planned to rule the world.

At this point, Daken had enough of world domination. He just wanted to make his father well so they could live the life that Daken deserved.

The plane finally landed in Denver. Daken damn near knocked people over in his haste to get off the plane once the doors were opened, rushing out to go meet with Essex. He solemnly swore to himself that he would _never_ fly coach again.

Essex was waiting for Daken, leaning against a Rolls Royce and grinning. "Daken, my dear boy-"

"When are we going to get my father?" Daken cut him off.

Essex chuckled darkly, turning to get into the driver's seat. "Patience, my dear boy. We will be going to get your father very soon. There have been some interesting developments that we must discuss."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Outwardly, Romulus was a vision of perfect calm as he looked through the files on the table in front of him as he flew in his private jet to the other side of the world. Inside, he was a snarling animal trapped in a cage.

James was _his_. After seven years together with the man he saw as his mate, Romulus would be damned before he let Stryker or Victor have his most precious belonging.

And if that little shit Daken thought he was getting James…

Romulus snorted softly before taking a sip of his coffee. He realized that Daken was probably his greatest failure of all. He had tried to make the boy in his own image. But the mongrel didn't seem to realize that there was only going to be one lover in James's bed, and that was Romulus. Certainly not James's brother, and most definitely not his own son.

So, Romulus now looked to the simplest laws of all, those of nature. There can be only one alpha in this pack. All others would have to be done away with, as they would only seek to harm his precious James.

Erasing James's memory was far too risky, Romulus had decided. Though it pained him to face the reality that he may have to part with James for a bit, Romulus knew that the only real way to permanently make James his was to seduce him.

After he had killed all rivals for James's affections, of course.

And that was not something that Romulus planned to do on his own, help becoming very much a necessity at this point in the game. Romulus glanced up when one of his companions on the plane started to snore.

Romulus grimaced. There were very things in the world that truly irked Romulus. Loud snoring was one of those things. Silas Burr was very lucky that he was so damned useful, or else Romulus would be sorely tempted to toss the man out of the plane.

Kyle Gibney, ever the faithful soldier, reached over and repositioned Burr's head to make him less noisy. He glanced up at Romulus, before slowly approaching. Turbulence shook the plane, sending Kyle careening off of his feet and onto the table.

"Sorry," the blond muttered, trying to reorganize the papers that had been scattered by his graceless fall.

Romulus waved him away. "Don't worry about that," he murmured kindly. There were only two men in the world that Romulus felt he could relax his demeanor around. The first was obviously James, the other was Kyle. In many ways, Kyle was practically a son to Romulus.

A thought struck Romulus. Perhaps he could use Kyle as a way to reach James. His lover was one to take the young under wing. And Kyle could definitely be used to fit that bill.

The boy could be quite charming when he needed to be.

But there were more important matters at hand for the moment. As those in recovery would say: One day at a time.

"When we land, I will be taking Silas with me to recover James," Romulus explained. "I need you to handle a very special assignment for me, Kyle. While Silas and I set things into motion at Alkali Lake, I want you to go and check up on the Phoenix Project. Let Dr. Thurston know that I've extended his time table by five years. Of course, I will be expecting greater numbers from him with this extra time."

Kyle grinned. If the boy had been a puppy, his tail would have been wagging ecstatically.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Carol Hines hated her job. No, saying that she hated her job was being too nice. She _loathed_ her job with a deep, burning passion.

At least, that was how she felt about her day job.

Gritting her teeth, and once more squashing the urge to punch Dr. Cornelius in his fat little nose, Carol made her way through the Alkali Lake facility. That schmuck actually thought that she was _attracted_ to him. He tried to offer her a promotion if she would-

Carol sneered as she fished out her room keys from her pocket. She almost broke the key in the lock as she roughly twisted the lock open. As soon as the door to her private quarters was closed, Carol let out a deep breath as she leaned against the heavy metal door with her eyes closed.

"What is troubling you, Carol?"

To the men in security who watched everyone in Alkali Lake no matter where they were like hawks, all they saw was Carol Hines going about her business in her rooms.

They did not see the purple and blue haired woman hovering in the middle of Carol's living room. If Carol stared at her too long, she could see her existing in several universes at once, which was a very disconcerting sensation. Carol made certain that she looked directly at her unusual roommate as little as possible.

"Just the usual, Moonlight," Carol replied, moving to sink down onto her couch. It was ugly as sin, but it was quite possibly the world's most comfortable couch. Moonlight had in fact assured her that this was a fact. "Men are pigs, and think that I should be grateful to have my job here."

Moonlight smiled thinly. "Don't worry, we only have to stay here for a little while longer," she promised. She lowered to the floor, sitting next to Carol and pulling her into a warm embrace. Carol didn't know what it was, but Moonlight reminded her of her mother.

Carol looked up to Moonlight, opening her mouth to speak when suddenly Moonlight seemed to split into five different places at once before snapping back into her singular form. "Gah!" Carol cried out in shock, leaping off the couch. "Warn me before you do that!"

"I'm sorry," Moonlight apologized. "Sometimes that just happens, and even I don't know that it's coming." She frowned. "Things are going to get very difficult soon. I think you should take some vacation time starting tomorrow."

Carol grinned. "Mm. Now that's an assignment I can live with."

"You won't be returning here," Moonlight said. She chewed her bottom lip, twirling a strand of hair around the fingers of her left hand. "This facility will be destroyed in forty-eight hours. I only hope I can guide events in the right direction. Everything has gotten so screwed up."

Carol chuckled as she went to the closet to pull out her suitcase. "You know, sometimes you act very much like the young woman whose body you're in. I can see a lot of my cousin in you."

"Cassandra is still in here," Moonlight said, pulling the twisted strand in front of her face. "Well, she's still in here from a certain point of view."

Carol started to walk toward her bedroom, then stopped to stare at Moonlight. "When will I see you again?"

Moonlight looked sadly at the floor. "Never again, I'm afraid. This body won't survive what is coming." Again, she chewed at her lips. "I'm very sorry, Carol. I never meant for any harm to come to Cassandra, but I fear there is nothing I can do to save her. But I promise you she won't feel any pain."

Carol stared at Moonlight in shock. "But… you… you promised!"

"I promised that if there was a way to bring your cousin back, I would," Moonlight reminded her. "I fear that resurrecting your cousin is out of the question."

Before Carol had a chance to react, she saw Moonlight raising her hand-

And Carol found herself on a beach at night, warm breezes playing with her hair. "Moonlight, you bitch!" she screamed.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Moonlight sighed. The Cassandra part of her understood why Carol had been so angry. The Moonlight side was frustrated that Carol could not see beyond her own selfish mortal desires to see that the fate of the planet was at stake.

Moonlight stood and walked into Carol's bedroom. To be quite honest, the planet could survive with or without Carol Hines. But Moonlight had become quite fond of Carol, so she had decided to spare the woman.

_Soon,_ Moonlight thought as she snuggled down on Carol's bed. _Soon my part in this will be over. _


	10. Chapter 9

_Authoress's note: Historically, Datura was used by Oracles in Greece to "see the future". Please keep in mind that (a) Moonlight is like a demi-goddess type thing. She can use Datura safely. (b) You are mortal. DATURA CAN KILL YOU. IT IS A **POISON**!_

_You have been warned._

Moonlight sat in the middle of Carol Hines's living room. She could sense that things were dangerously close to spiraling out of control. If she didn't get everything back on track, the world was seriously fucked.

Tsking at herself, Moonlight rolled her eyes. She hated it when the vulgarity of some host bodies slipped through. But such was her fate.

"Time to get things rocking and rolling," she murmured. In front of her she had placed a small cast iron pot that was Cassandra had purchased during a year at college she never finished.

Moonlight sat with her legs folded underneath her. She threw Mugwort and Wormwood into the pot, followed by a handful of Datura. Taking a deep breath, Moonlight lit the charcoal and waited for the fumes to rise.

_Moonlight reaches out in many directions at once-_

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Daken was frustrated. He was so close to his final goal, and now it looked as if he was going to fail.

Essex had told him that they had only forty eight hours to get to his father before Stryker was going to, for all intents and purposes, have James lobotomized.

Daken glared at the paperwork that littered the table in front of him. Plans to basically "augment" James's brain with computer chips… was Stryker mad? This would destroy everything that made James... well, James.

There was a sick irony here, and it did not escape Daken. This is what he had been helping Romulus do all along, except that Romulus was using a more "natural" approach to rewriting James's history.

Unfortunately for Daken, Stryker had learned his lesson and now had his father locked up tight. With only forty eight hours, Daken didn't see how it would be possible to save his father.

Snarling, Daken cleared the table with a single swipe of his arm. "Fuck!" he yelled. "It's not fucking _fair!_"

"Life is actually very fair, it's just not always fair to one person all of the time."

Daken spun around to see what was simultaneously a sparkling cloud, a young woman, and some kind of flying lizard all at once. She was both there and not there. Essex kept a very strange set of mutants around.

"I am no mutant, Daken," the cloud/woman/lizard informed him, a smile obvious in her voice. "But what I am would take entirely too long to explain and time is of the essence. You may call me Moonlight. I have come to help you. You may ask me three questions, and only three questions. So choose wisely."

Daken bit his tongue to keep himself from blurting out the first few questions that popped into his head. All would ultimately be useless. And a voice in his head was telling him that this Moonlight creature was not to be trifled with.

"Give me a moment," he said, sitting in a chair.

"I can only give you half that," she replied.

Daken rubbed at the bridge of his nose. His mind was reeling. _Don't ask questions that can only be answered with yes or no,_ he told himself. "What exactly do I need to do in order to rescue my father from Stryker for good?"

Moonlight chuckled, impressed. Her form stopped swirling and she was clearly a young woman, clad in a dress of stars. Her blue hair was tinged with the colors of sunset. "You must do that which you wish least to do," she answered. "You will only be able to save your father with your uncle's help. Without him, you will fail and your father will be lost forever. He will become a terrible weapon in the hands of the enemy."

"How will I get Victor to work with me?" Daken had suspected the answer, but that made it a pill no easier to swallow.

"He has all ready begun to change and grow; something that he hasn't done in many decades. You must accept the truth of his relationship with you father." Moonlight tipped her head to one side. "You must also accept that you will never be your father's lover. You are his _son_. And he will always love you as such. But should you continue to try to change the nature of this relationship, he will reject and ultimately destroy you. Victor is James's partner. He is the only one who can set James to rights again."

Daken grit his teeth. "I'm the one who can save my father," he growled petulantly.

Moonlight shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "You must be united with your uncle, or it is your father who will pay the price. And I am almost out of time. What is your last question?"

Daken was silent for a moment. "I have this strange feeling that I am going to need your help again. How will I find you?"

Moonlight spread her arms wide, inviting Daken to embrace her. Rising, Daken walked into the hug. And walked. And walked. It was like-

_The whole universe was swirling around him. He watched as galaxies were born, others died. The universe was crushing him-_

_Moonlight gently brushed his hair back, placing a cool kiss to his forehead. "I will always be there when you actually need me." _

_And she was hugging him, squeezing him tightly. _

Daken blinks.

He was the only one in the room. Except he wasn't in Essex's complex anymore. He was staring into the startled eyes of a giant, blue furry man. Who was taking a shower.

Looking down, Daken grinned. "Well, hello, big boy," he purred.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Wade was not shocked to see the sparkly woman appear in the cafeteria. He was clearly the only one, as multiple guns were instantly drawn and pointed at her.

Snorting, Wade continued to calmly eat his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He held up his Jell-o cup in way of an offering. "Never mind them," he said. "They're just fuck nuts who have no idea how to properly greet a goddess."

The woman tipped her head to the side in confusion, then laughed. "I'm not a goddess Wade," she responded taking the Jell-o. It was grape, her favorite. "I'm just a semi-corporal interdimensional being. And you're just high at the moment." She waves a bored hand and everyone else in the room disappears. "I'm here to talk to you about James."

"Oh, I know you're not a _real_ goddess, I just meant that you're totally hot," Wade leered.

The woman snorted, rather deliberately licking some of the Jell-o off of the spoon. After all, she had to make sure she had Wade's full attention. "Wade, my name is Moonlight-"

"Cassandra," Wade corrected, staring directly at Moonlight's chest.

"What?" Moonlight was actually shocked. She didn't realize that anyone knew Carol's little sister's name.

"Your name- well, technically your hostess's name- is Cassandra Hines," Wade explained, propping his chin up on his hand. While his eyes had moved up to her mouth, his foot was trying to inch its way up her leg.

Moonlight slapped her hands on the table. "You know what, I don't have time for this. Normally I would do my whole transcendental schtick, but I'm just going to get right to the point."

"Can we fuck after?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Damn it."

"Wade, you need to stop fucking James and help him get out of this hell hole. His brother is coming to rescue you James, and you're going to help him. James and Victor are meant to be together, and you are seriously getting in the way."

Wade rolled his eyes. "Listen, Moonbeam, that's just not going to happen-"

Moonlight grinned viciously. "Either you do what I say, or I'm going to teleport your dick into the heart of the sun. I will then make your ass irresistible to any male. And not just the human males, Wade. Newts, bears, whales, elephants will all find you unbearably attractive. But, I won't let you die. Oh, no. I will make you fucking immortal. So you can spend the rest of eternity getting your ass pounded by anything with a dick."

Wade actually looked disconcerted. "Can you really do that?"

"How eager are you to find out?"

"Point taken. So, what exactly is it you need me to do?"

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Kyle looked suspiciously at the beer in his hand that Romulus had offered him five minutes ago. Because he was apparently the only one who could see or hear the woman in the dress of stars sitting directly across from him.

He noticed that as the evening progressed, her hair changed color to match the sky outside the plane window. And that her voice reminded him of his sixth grade teacher, who he had a major crush on back in the day. That teacher had been one of the few comforts to him as he had grown up, especially once his differences became so obvious.

Moonlight, as she had introduced herself, had been explaining to him about helping him to save James or else the world was going to explode or something. Kyle was having a hard time focusing on the exact words, being distracted by the fact that he could hear her talking with other people at the same time.

The main problem being that the other people were obviously not on the plane.

"Kyle," she murmured, placing a hand lightly on his knee. Actually it was two of the same hand. "Are you getting any of this? It is kind of important."

Kyle knew that no one on the plane could hear what they were saying, but he was still freaked out by the whole thing. "Could you just be one person at a time, please?" he begged. "It's hard enough talking to a woman only I can see, but there are _two_ of you."

Moonlight frowned. She seemed to split into about eight women, all of whom were talking to each other all at once, before reverting to her dual female state. "Interesting," she mused. "You can see both my current host body, and the body of the next person I will inhabit. I'm not sure why that is, but there's nothing I can really do about it. Sorry."

"Right," Kyle muttered, quickly finishing the beer. He found that he didn't particularly care for the purple haired Moonlight. But the dark haired Moonlight, the one who reminded him of his sixth grade teacher, made him ache pleasantly. He hoped he got to meet that one real soon.

"Anyway, I'm going to need you to help me with James." Both Moonlights smiled warmly at him. "All you need to do is make sure that Victor and Daken can get into the Alkali Lake facility." They reached into their dress and pulled out a set of keys that they held out for him to take.

Kyle eyed the keys with distrust. "Are these some weird metaphorical set of keys that are going to turn into candies or something once you disappear?"

Purple haired Moonlight laughed, dark haired Moonlight smiled. "No, they're actually just a set of keys." They held up the keys individually.

Purple haired Moonlight said: "This key will open the back door." Just as dark haired Moonlight said, "This key will open the door to the main control room."

They both said, "It's very important that Alkali Lake is destroyed. None of the data inside can be saved, Kyle."

Purple stressed, "No matter what Romulus asks of you, destroy it all, Kyle!"

Dark haired leaned forward and squeezed his knee. "You must destroy it, Kyle, or I won't be able to help you."

"I'll do it! Just knock that shit off!"

"Knock what shit off, Kyle?"

Kyle blinked rapidly. The two in one women were gone. Romulus and Silas were staring at him. "Um, I have no idea?" he replied lamely.


	11. Chapter 10

Scott had recently been doing some reading about wolf pack behavior in an attempt to better understand Mr. Creed. Right now as he sat at the table between Jean and Storm, he felt like the three of them were somewhere between pups and prey.

Professor Xavier and Mr. Lehnsherr, while two very different men, had gladly shared the responsibilities of running the school. They may have had disagreements from time to time, but there was no doubt they were the leaders of the institute.

And up until today, it had seemed that Mr. Creed was very willing to accept them both as the leaders.

Enter Colonel Nicholas Fury.

The Colonel had been sent by the newly founded Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, or S.H.I.E.L.D. Along with dealing with terroristic threats, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been charged with the incarceration of mutants deemed too "dangerous" to be in with the regular prison population.

Mr. Lehnsherr was treating Colonel Fury with polite disdain. Mr. Creed looked like he was trying to figure out the best way to hide Fury's body the minute Prof. Xavier's back was turned.

And, clearly, Mr. Creed's feelings were returned by the Colonel. He had all ready made sure that Mr. Creed knew that _he_ knew all about Mr. Creed's life before joining the X-Men (that was how the Professor was introducing his team now).

Mr. Creed clearly didn't like the idea of the Colonel giving him orders. "And how do we know, _Nick," _Victor was sneering, "that your little organization isn't going to just lock the kids and I up the minute we're done taking care of Romulus for you."

Colonel Fury didn't rise to the bait, but his jaw clearly tensed for a minute. "Simple, _Victor_, I'm thinking of the future," Fury explained. "S.H.E.I.L.D. can't afford to make too many enemies. Plus, the Institute would be of better use to our country as allies, not as enemies."

Mr. Creed was clearly not buying into it. But he glanced at the Professor, and that seemed to be enough for him to go with the flow for now as he leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

"So, um, what's the plan?" Scott finally hazarded to ask.

The door to the conference room banged open to reveal a very damp Dr. Hank McCoy holding a young Asian man by one arm. "It seems to be raining men," he grumbled, pushing Daken in front. Dr. McCoy was only wearing a towel around his hips. "Or at least it seems to be materializing men. I believe most of you have all ready made Daken's acquaintance." He straightened up. "And if you will excuse me for a moment, I'm going to go and make myself a bit more decent."

Daken turned around to leer at McCoy as he left, right before he was hauled into the air by his uncle by his throat. As he crashed face first into the wall, he could dimly hear Xavier shouting at Victor to control himself. Daken collapsed to the floor to see Lehnsherr and the straight-laced Scott Summers urging Victor to sit back down. "Trust me, I'm not here completely of my own free will," Daken muttered, trying to get back to his feet as gracefully as one could after being man-handled by Victor Creed. "Someone calling herself 'Moonlight'-"

"You've spoken to Moonlight?" Fury cut in. "Did she give you any kind of a message? Tell me exactly what she told you!"

Daken was about to make a smarmy reply that turned into what he would forever later deny was a very girly shriek. Moonlight suddenly materialized out of his chest.

Only it wasn't _quite _Moonlight. She looked kind of like… Daken. Oh, she was still female, but this was not the same Moonlight he had spoken with a few minutes ago. Plus, she didn't seem as solid as the other Moonlight.

Moonlight turned and quirked a smile at Daken. "I told you I would always be there when you needed me, even if I am only a small part of me," she grinned. Moonlight turned her attention to Fury. "Colonel, I regret that my time with you will be short. I won't be able to maintain even this meager physical apparition for very long. You are now on a forty eight hour time table. En Saba Nur is getting ready to make his move. Once James has had his memory erased by Stryker again, he plans to have his servant Essex 'acquire' him. I have all ready gotten two others in place to assist you. Hurry, Colonel. This one is going to be too close to fuck up now."

And just as quickly as the strange woman in a dress made out of stars appeared, she faded back into Daken's chest. The room was silent, save for the sounds of Daken trying desperately to paw at his chest.

"Don't bother," Fury told him. "You'll have a piece of her with you for as long as she needs you."

"Who the hell is Moonlight?" Lehnsherr asked, still staring at the spot where the mysterious woman had just disappeared.

"She is not so much of a _who_ as a _what_," Fury tried to explain. "You all might want to sit down. We obviously don't have a lot of time, but if Moonlight is involved, you need to know about her. And more importantly about En Saba Nur.

"En Saba Nur is somewhere around three thousand years old. We're not sure how he has survived that long, but he has. And for the last three thousand years, he has been preparing to take over the world. He is a genetic supremacist. Moonlight and her sisters have also existed nearly as long as him. Their sole purpose is to help destroy him. I've only ever met Moonlight. She and her sisters are 'stand ins'. They are able to take over host bodies to use their knowledge to help push events in the right direction. At least that's the best we've been able to understand how they work."

Victor's face darkened. "If she was so worried about Jimmy, why didn't she interfere before now?" he demanded.

Fury shrugged. "She doesn't give me many reasons for why she does what she does. Maybe we need your brother to be the way he is now. We could spend all day trying to figure out her motivations, but we don't have that kind of time."

"So, what do we do?" Scott asked.

Fury pulled out a set of manila folders. "We stick to our original plan of capturing Romulus," he said bluntly. "I suspect that Moonlight is on our side in this and will intervene in her own special way."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Wade walked sadly back to his room. This would be his last few days with James, according to Cassie Hines/Moonlight/Whatever The Hell She Was Calling Herself. Sure, she was great to look at, but she was a total bitch as far as he was concerned.

Wade groaned as James slithered over, slipping a hand down Wade's pants. Wade started to move in to kiss James when his bedroom door was kicked open and both men were knocked on their respective asses.

Wade blinked rapidly. For some reason he suspected that his fun with James had Officially Ended. Wade made the mistake of pausing when he probably should have been running.

Fred Dukes lunged at him, crowing as he knocked Wade to the floor, easily wrestling him into a submissive position. There was definitely a predatory gleam in Fred's eyes that Wade did not like.

"So, you are the mortal of whom my sister spoke," Fred laughed. At least, it was sort of Fred. There was something very off about his voice. "We have two days until we wage battle with the enemy and I have needs that must be met before then!"

Glancing around frantically, Wade tried to figure a way out of this madness. "James, honey bunny, I know you're crazy and all, but if you could help me out here-"

Fred slapped him. "Shut up, man! You will give me pleasure so as to slake my needs!"

Somehow, Wade doubted the James would be much help anyway. James had clearly been dosed recently and was having fun making shag angels in the carpet.

Wade glared at Fred. "What the fuck are you talking about? And who the hell are you? What did you do with Fred?" Wade demanded, only to find himself being slapped again. Fred roughly grabbed him by the hair.

"Fool. I am the Wound Goddess! I am a Maiden of the Slain! I am a Death Bringer! I am Mathildur, she who is mighty in battle!" Fred/Mathildur roared. "And I have chosen you to give me pleasure!"

Suddenly, Wade felt that maybe becoming a monk wasn't such a bad idea. _You should go talk to Moonlight/Cassie Hines,_ his little yellow boxes suggested.

"Yes! Moonlight will know what to do!" Wade agreed.

Mathildur snorted. "What does the Great Manipulator know? She only knows how to influence the hearts of men, she knows nothing of battle." Mathildur got to her feet, tossing Wade over her shoulder. "Now, to the bed chamber!"

Wade prayed that Mathildur was as butch as she sounded, and like a typical man would fall asleep quickly after a few rolls in the hay.

Fortunately for Wade, the door had been left open by Mathildur's rampage allowing Moonlight to come running in. Unfortunately, Wraith was right behind her. He stopped just inside the door to stare open mouthed at the sight of Fred trying to manhandle Wade into the bed and James rolling around while giggling stupidly on the floor.

"Fred, man, what the fuck are you doing?" Wraith finally demanded.

"Yes, _Fred,_" Moonlight hissed between clenched teeth. "What do you think you are doing?"

Fred blinked in confusion. Moonlight and Wade could both sense Mathildur fading into his unconscious. "How the hell did I get in here?" he asked, somewhat foolishly.

Moonlight smacked her forehead. "Just forty eight more hours," she muttered. And wondered how the hell she was going to explain this one.

Wraith looked around in confusion, as he urged Fred out of Wade's room. "Great, the insanity is contagious," he was heard muttering as the two men walked down the hall.

"I'm so sorry about that," Moonlight apologized. "I didn't think my sisters were going to start arriving so soon. And Mathildur is the least patient and the most horny. I'll have to find some way to keep her occupied for the next forty eight hours."

Wade threw an arm over his eyes. "Remind me why I'm helping you again?"

"Because you don't want to spend the rest of eternity getting ass raped," she reminded him brightly. Moonlight patted Wade comfortingly on the arm. "Don't worry, it will all be worth it in the end. And I promise there won't be any more crazy sisters coming for you. Now that I know they're almost all here, I can keep an eye out. All you have to do is get James off all of those nasty chemicals the scientists have been pumping him full of. We'll handle the rest."

Wade glared at Moonlight. "You had better be right," he snapped.


	12. Chapter 11

Victor was getting antsy. In less than twelve hours, they would be on their way to rescue Jimmy. He had been lying in his bed for nearly an hour now trying to get some sleep with poor results. Victor hoped that this "Moonlight" girl and her sisters would be as useful as Fury seemed to believe they were.

Frowning, Victor sniffed the air. The scent of Jasmine tripped delicately through the air. The door to his room cautiously opened, a Hindu woman with the most beautiful eyes Victor had ever seen peeked around the door.

"Hello, Victor," she smiled gently at him. "I am Maya, one of Moonlight's sisters. Do you have a moment to talk?"

Victor propped himself up on his elbows. He had never been a religious man by any means, but he felt truly awed by this woman. "Um, yeah, sure, come on," he invited, words becoming difficult to find.

Maya didn't walk so much as glide across his room, shutting the door behind her. She regarded Victor warmly, her fathomless eyes measuring him slowly. "I see why she loves you and your brother so much, even if she doesn't see it that way," she murmured, hands folded in her lap.

"Who?" Victor mumbled.

"My baby sister, Moonlight," Maya clarified. "She is deeply enamored of you both. Especially of James, but she is not in love with him in a sexual way. Her love for him is… difficult to explain. She loves what he will be for her, and what you will be as well I suspect."

Victor shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Man, doesn't anybody speak clearly anymore?"

Maya threw back her head and laughed. "You will understand soon enough. But for now, I have come to make you a deal, Victor. After all is said and done, I am going to need to ask you a very big favor. If you say yes, I will help heal your brother's mind."

"I'll do it!" Victor barked.

Maya raised a hand. "Do not be so hasty to agree just yet, Victor," she admonished. "Moonlight is the manipulator. All of her long life, just as the rest of the Sisterhood has, she has worked towards the goal of finally defeating En Sabah Nur." Maya's face dropped sadness evident in her eyes. "I fear that her work has begun to consume her. She has forgotten what it means to be alive. I will need both you and James to remind her _why_ she is doing what she does. And I promise you it will be no easy task. You may give me your answer when I come to you again."

Victor sighed. "I don't suppose you can help me get to sleep," he grumbled.

With a wicked grin, Maya slid forward so that her body was flush with Victor's. "The mind is my specialty," Maya purred. "Especially in the realm of dreams. And I think you deserve a very nice dream for what you are doing for the Sisterhood, Victor."

Before Victor could respond, he felt his eyes instantly drooping closed.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

_Victor is dreaming. He knows this, but he does not try to force himself back into wakefulness. _

_It is summertime. _

_Victor looks over his shoulder on the bed to see that he has left the window open. The smell of pine lingers in the air. The moon is full._

_He blinks and Jimmy is sitting in the window, staring at the moon. Jimmy is wearing his fatigues, the green t-shirt clinging to his chest beautifully. Victor watches in rapt fascination as a single drop of sweat clings to Jimmy's jaw for a moment before lazily dripping down his neck._

"_Victor," Jimmy murmurs, legs unfolding as he gets up out of the window and prowls over to Victor on the bed. "I've missed you so much."_

_Victor can't move. He can only watch as Jimmy pulls the t-shirt up his chest and over his head. Victor is mesmerized by the ripple of Jimmy's muscles. _

"_Do you want me, Victor?" Jimmy purrs, as he straddles Victor and rubs his hands over his brother's body. Victor idly wonders for a moment when he got naked. Not that he's complaining, mind you._

"_More than anything in the world, Jimmy," Victor moans breathily, wishing desperately he could move._

_Jimmy sighs, dipping his head to swirl his tongue in Victor's belly button before kissing his way up Victor's chest. He rubs his hands over Victor's shoulder, before gripping them strongly. "Do you love me, Victor?" Jimmy asks before attacking Victor's throat with sucks and gentle bites._

"_God, Jimmy," Victor groans. There is something about being completely at Jimmy's mercy that makes Victor fear that he will come right now. "So much," he babbles. "Love you so much."_

_Jimmy responds by bucking his hips against Victor's. "Show me, Victor," he hisses, quickly shucking his pants. "Show me how much you love me."_

_Victor can move again. He rolls the two of them over, so that Jimmy is lying underneath him. Victor pauses to gently stroke the side of his brother's jaw, throat, chest, anything he can reach. "I've been waiting so long to show you," Victor groans, dipping his head to kiss Jimmy, gentle and harsh at the same time. Their mouths try to devour each other, tongues battling one another._

_Two pairs of hands roam and caress the other, touching intimate places they have grown to know so well. Victor doesn't want this to ever end. He wants his real brother back so desperately._

"_Inside me, Victor," Jimmy begs. "I need you… god, Victor, need you now."_

_Victor reaches down and can feel that his brother is all ready prepared for him. With an appreciative moan, Victor pushes inside Jimmy. _

"_Just like I remember," Victor mumbles, quickly falling into a familiar rhythm. He thrusts, trying to bury himself in Jimmy. Jimmy is gasping, clinging to Victor and wrapping himself tightly around his brother. "So perfect, Jimmy," Victor whispers into his ear as he takes Jimmy in hand, massaging Jimmy's cock in time to his thrusts._

"_Yes, Victor," Jimmy prays. "Yes, like that. So good." Jimmy throws back his head and cries out. The tight clench of his brother brings Victor over the edge as well._

"_I will never hurt you again, Jimmy," Victor promises._

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Moonlight was watching James thoughtfully with his head cradled in her lap. The smell of Jasmine in the air told the three sisters in the room that Maya was at work. Mathildur chuckled, twisting a lock of Moonlight's hair around her thick fingers.

Casting a sly glance at the newest arrival to the ever growing Sisterhood, Mathildur grinned at a young black woman who had once been her twin sister in a past life. "Hey, Magnhildur, how do you think it's been since our dear baby sister has gotten laid?" she chortled.

Magnhildur, who had been busying herself with looking over the plans for the Alkali Lake Facility, snorted. "I don't even think Moonlight remembers what sex is at this point," she replied.

Moonlight stuck her tongue out at her two sisters. "Just because I don't try to fuck everything that walks doesn't mean I don't get some every now and again," she retorted.

"When is the last time you got laid, Moonlight?" Mathildur asked, starting to braid the strand of Moonlight's hair.

"Depends, what year is it?" the youngest sister grumbled.

"By Odin… what is _wrong_ with you, little sister?" Magnhildur snapped. "I order you to go get laid right this minute, young lady. Mathildur and I can keep the little insane one away from your charge." She leered at Mathildur. "In fact, I'm sure Mathildur could think of some very _provocative_ ways of keeping Mr. Wilson occupied."

Moonlight shuddered at thought of her overly masculine sister with Wade. There was something about trying to picture Fred and Wade that just didn't set right with Moonlight.

"And Maya is working at taking care of James's mind, so there really isn't much for you to do right now anyway," Mathildur pointed out. "That little boy from the Celtic Isles seemed interested in Cassandra. Why don't you go take advantage of that?"

Moonlight grumbled as she got up. She knew that her two sisters would only bully her until she did what they wanted. And Bradley was attractive enough. "Fine, just make sure to keep Wade away from James and don't let anyone find out who you really are," Moonlight conceded.

She walked out of the bedroom and went out in pursuit of Bradley. Moonlight hadn't been kidding when she hinted to her sisters that it had been _years. _The truth was it had been almost a century. She hoped she remembered how this whole thing goes.

As Moonlight walked into the common area to find Bradley sitting alone watching the television, she groaned inwardly. She was going to have to trust Cassandra knew what she was doing. These modern men confused Moonlight so.

"What are you watching, Chris?" Cassandra/Moonlight asked as she sat next to him.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Daken was truly hating being at the Institute. He was horny as hell. But that Xavier had basically made it pretty clear what would happen to him if he even _thought_ about trying to pheromone anyone in the school into having sex with him.

"Stupid Moonlight," Daken grumbled, punching his pillow into a more comfortable shape. At least Romulus never complained about his sexual practices.

Daken realized that he couldn't even remember having to get himself off. He understood the basic principle. But even since puberty hit, he had always been able to find someone or encourage someone to meet his needs.

Daken looked down at his lap. "Well, how hard can it be?" he grumbled. "Millions of people do it every day."

Reaching into his pants, Daken tried simply stroking himself. While this did serve to get him to full hardness, he was finding it difficult to get off.

_Have I ever had to fantasize before?_ Daken realized in mild disbelief.

Biting his lip, Daken let his mind wander. After all, there was no harm in _fantasizing_.

Daken saw his father in front of him, kissing him on the mouth while he took his son in one fist. James roughly grabbed Daken by his hair, forcing his head to the side to expose his throat. "Yer mine, boy," James snarled before biting deep into the bare flesh.

Daken tasted blood, realizing he had just bitten his lip a little too hard.

James forced Daken to his knees. "Show me what a good boy you can be," James growled, opening his pants.

Daken eagerly took his father into his mouth, suckling for all he was worth. His head bobbed as he swirled his tongue. He knew what his father really needed. James tugged forcefully on his hair, nearly ripping it out in a few places. "On the bed, boy," James ordered, slapping Daken across the face.

Daken rushed to meet his father's demands. He barely had time to spread his thighs before his father had him on his back and was forcing his cock into his son's ass. "Is this what you want, Daken?" he snarled in Daken's face, thrusting wildly. "Huh, you want your Daddy to fuck you? No, that's not what you _really_ want." James stopped fucking him. "You know what you really want," he hissed.

With an excited cry, Daken flipped his father over and eager slid his cock into James. "I'm what you need," he groaned, riding his father. "Tell me I'm what you need."

James dug his fingers into Daken's back. "You know what I need," he moaned.

Daken was surprised when he suddenly came in his own hand. He panted for a moment, curled up on his side, before looking down at his hand in disgust. "Gross," he muttered before staggering over to the bathroom to take a shower.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Wade was about ready to fuck _Stryker_ at this point. Moonlight and Mathildur, along with the arrival of Mathildur's "twin" Magnhildur, were not letting him anywhere near James. "He belongs with Victor," Wade grumbled in a decent imitation of Moonlight. "He needs to get all of those drugs out of his system."

And that little bitch had the audacity to go off and have sex with Bradley. How the hell was _that_ fair? She gets to get laid, and he has to go without? Still, watching them from the doorway had been fun. Who knew Bradley was that nimble? Hell, who knew he was that eager to fuck? Maybe that was his problem: severe lack of sex.

After quickly jerking off, Wade had decided to go tease North, only to find that even _David_ had brought back someone for the night.

Sitting on his bed, which was now James-free as Mathildur had moved James to the Hines Quarters, Wade tried to burn a hole in his door by glaring at it. "Everyone is getting laid but me," Wade said.

_Well, not everyone. Fred isn't getting any right now. Though I'm sure Mathildur would be more than glad to-_

"Do not even think about finishing that sentence, little yellow box," Wade snapped. He rested his chin on his folded hands. "This had better all be worth it."


	13. Chapter 12

Moonlight clung to the body lying next to her. If she could just keep her eyes closed, morning would never come and she wouldn't have to face her fate.

This day was going to suck so much.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Abraham Cornelius wasn't exactly sure what happened that morning when he was questioned about it later.

One minute, he was reviewing Weapon X's brain scans and the operative procedures they had planned for him that day with Stryker, the next he was plunged into chaos.

Two walls of the main chamber exploded. On one side was their former operative and Weapon X's brother, Victor Creed, along with what appeared to be a handful of teenagers and some very angry looking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. On the other side, was the infamous Romulus with a collection of his warriors with him.

Before anyone could ask what was going on, the room erupted in violence. It was hard for Cornelius to tell who was exactly fighting whom. Deciding that he was more of a pacifist than a fighter, Cornelius did what seemed like the intelligent thing for him to do in this kind of situation.

He ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction while clutching his files to his chest.

Cornelius all but knocked over Cassie Hines, who was running towards the madness. He managed to free a hand to stop her. "Where do you think you're going, Cassie?" he gasped. "Where is your sister? And why are you running around in just a t-shirt?"

Cassie's mouth opened and shut a few times. "Carol… Carol went on vacation a few days ago. I need to go find… Dukes. Fred Dukes. There's something I need to see him about," she explained lamely.

"Not looking like that you're not. Plus, I'm sure he will have his hands full dealing with the invasion!" Cornelius began dragging Cassie with him. "We need to get into the safety of the bunkers!"

Moonlight looked helplessly over her shoulder as she was dragged away by Cornelius. She desperately wanted to oversee what was going on. Now she was just going to have to trust in her sisters to protect James.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Mathildur grinned at Magnhildur as they opened the door to find that chaos was running rampant in the hallways. "Just like the good old days," she chortled.

The twins, consumed with blood lust, howled in joy and charged towards the fray in the main chamber.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Maya struggled through the press of bodies to find Moonlight. Everyone was in a panic. And their fears were threatening to consume Maya's mind.

"Maya!" a young purple and blue haired woman cried out. She twisted away from a middle aged gentleman and rushed over to Maya. She hugged the other woman. "It's me, Moonlight! Are you all right?"

"Where is your champion?" Maya finally managed to gasp.

"He's with Mathildur and Magnhildur- oh shit." Moonlight groaned as she watched the twins go running by to obviously go plunge into whatever madness was happening elsewhere.

Maya managed to bring herself under control. "You go deal with the twins, I will go secure James."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Romulus snarled in frustration as he ripped the throat out of some nameless soldier. It was hard to tell who was who in all of this madness.

And he had a very strong suspicion who was behind it all. This entire clusterfuck reeked of her.

"Hello, Moonlight," he said calmly, snatching a young woman with badly dyed hair by the throat as she tried to dash by. "Haven't seen you in quite some time now."

Moonlight didn't bother with thrashing. "Romulus," she hissed painfully. "How's tricks?"

"I thought I destroyed you fifty years ago," Romulus growled lowly, squeezing her throat.

"Oh, you did," she wheezed. "But I just got myself a new body."

Sneering, Romulus threw Moonlight to the ground where she lay choking. "And I'm betting that it is safe to assume that your sisters are around here somewhere as well?"

Moonlight laughed. "Behind you."

Romulus barely had time to turn before a meaty fist connected with his face, knocking him back several yards. He looked up blearily to see Fred Dukes standing over him, grinning madly. "Damn, little sister, you are just making friends everywhere you go," he said to Moonlight.

"Mathildur, who is watching James?" Moonlight asked, pointedly ignoring Romulus who was glaring daggers at her.

"He's with the little cutey who talks too much."

Moonlight smacked a hand over her eyes. "Oh, this is not going according to plan," she yelled.

"Sucks, don't it?" Mathildur grinned. She/He turned and went back into the thick of the fight.

Moonlight frowned, looking over the mass of bodies fighting. She caught sight of Victor. With a nod of her head, he came over to her. "Wade is not going to keep up his end of our arrangement," she said flatly. "You need to go to the roof to stop him from absconding with your brother and a helicopter. Get him and the others back to the man-"

A wave of light sent the four mutants, along with pretty much everyone else standing, sprawling. Mathildur hissed in pain, crawling over to Moonlight. "And what part does _he_ play in this plan of yours?" she grumbled in her little sister's ear.

Moonlight was clenching her jaw. "Just focus on saving James," she growled lowly.

Mathildur helped Moonlight to her feet. "The final battle is almost upon us. You can't-"

"Don't worry about me," Moonlight snapped. "Just do what you're told. Take Victor and Daken with you. I can use the S.H.E.I.L.D. agents to handle the rest."

Mathildur looked sadly at Moonlight before beckoning Magnhildur to follow. Victor glanced at Moonlight before also following the… twins.

Moonlight turned her attention to the newcomers to the fight. "Hello, Essex," she sneered. "I was beginning to think I was going to get through a life without seeing you. I was actually getting excited- what the hell happened to you?"

Dr. Nathaniel Essex walked into the now still room. He no longer resembled a human being. His skin was milk white, his eyes glowing red. "Ah, Moonlight," he grinned. "My master will be particularly pleased to see you."

"En Sabah Nur can kiss my ass, Essex" Moonlight replied brightly.

"Actually, it's Mr. Sinister now."

Moonlight was silent for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Are you fucking kidding me? Seriously?" She was overtaken by another bout of laughter. "Mr. Sinister? What? Baron von Baddenouf was taken at the Evil Villain Name Registry? And are those miscreants with you the Nasty Boys?"

Sinister chuckled indulgently. "I forgot how witty you can be, my dear Moonlight. You always were the most interesting of your sisters."

Maya appeared at Moonlight's side. "I hope you know what you are doing, little sister," she murmured.

"So do I," Moonlight muttered. "So do I."

_Authoress Note: Think of this as a mid-season cliff hanger. This story is going on hiatus for a little over a month, because I don't want to rush it in order to be done for NaNoWriMo and have the story suck. But I wanted to give you what little I have written. _

_So I will see you all in December. Leave reviews to show me you love me! _


	14. Chapter 13

_Authoress Notes:_

(1) Don't worry, there is an epilog coming.

(2) Can you believe that I started this story a year ago and I had originally only intended for it to be five chapters long?

(3) A note about the ending of this chapter. I am sooo going somewhere with this. But it was either they got what happened, or Stryker wound up getting stung by bees, clawed by a bear before tripping over a snake to fall down the side of a mountain where he was then ravaged by a mountain lion. Or something like that.

Victor ran out of the Alkali Lake facility onto the roof close on the heels of Fred Dukes, who was currently calling himself "Mathildur" at the moment, with his nephew close beside him. Victor didn't care what Maya or Moonlight said, he didn't trust Daken one bit. But for now, he really didn't have much of a choice.

Just as Moonlight had told him, Victor saw Wade trying to bend Jimmy into a more agreeable a position in one of several helicopters. Victor felt his blood staring to boil. He planned to personally remove Wade's internal organs in alphabetical order.

Victor ran out of the Alkali Lake facility onto the roof close on the heels of Fred Dukes, who was currently calling himself "Mathildur" at the moment, with his nephew close beside him. Victor didn't care what Maya or Moonlight said, he didn't trust Daken one bit. But for now, he really didn't have much of a choice.

Just as Moonlight had told him, Victor saw Wade trying to bend Jimmy into a more agreeable a position in one of several helicopters. Victor felt his blood staring to boil. He planned to personally remove Wade's internal organs in alphabetical order.

He couldn't hear what Jimmy was saying, but Victor could see his little brother reaching out to him as he tried to wriggle past Wade to get to Victor.

"Jimmy!" Victor called out. Wade's head snapped around, his eyes widening as they settled on Victor. Victor felt his claws lengthening as he watched Wade reach for both of his swords. Maybe he wouldn't be able to extract vengeance on Stryker, but Victor was willing to at least have the temporary satisfaction of gutting Wade for stealing his baby brother from him.

Mathildur licked her lips in anticipation. "Why don't you let me handle the gorgeous little man who talks to much?" she/he suggested. "I can think of a few better uses for his mouth while you get your brother to Maya and Moonlight."

Victor couldn't help but shudder a little bit at the implications all of that entailed. Fred and Wade was one image, but the idea of _Mathildur_ and Wade didn't sit quite right with Victor. Hell, even Wade didn't deserve that. Victor could only imagine the damage Mathildur could inflict, and that was just the physical.

But right now, his main concern was getting his little brother back.

It seemed simple enough. Mathildur basically terrified Wade as a general principle, so he ran squealing like a stuck pig from Fred. Victor watched the antics of the two … men? with a look of mirth in his eyes.

It was in this moment that Daken made his move.

"Daddy?" he whispered in James's ear. "Are you all right?" He had managed to take his uncle's short moment of distraction to get to his father first.

Jimmy's head lolled about his shoulders before lifting up enough to look at Daken. "Daddy?" he mumbled. "Ain't no one's… Daddy. I… Daken? Oh, god, Daken, get me outta here."

"Of course I will, Dad," Daken promised, hooking his hands under his father's arm pits. "You and I are going to get out of here. I'm going to take you to a special place, where it's going to be just the two of us."

"Like hell you will."

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Moonlight took a deep breath as she prepared to face off with Essex… Mr. Sinister. One of the best things about Nick Fury, as far as she was concerned, was that he didn't need someone to explain a plan to him. A quick shared glance, and he and his agents sprang into action.

While the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents dealt with Sinister's newest followers, Moonlight prepared to deal with Sinister himself. She made a mental note to pick a mutant body for her next life, because not having any kind of special powers what so ever was going to make this very difficult.

At least she had centuries of battle experience of her own to draw on.

She quickly found herself locked in combat with Sinister. Moonlight threw punches, and blocked kicks as best she could.

"Leave my baby sister alone, you son of a bitch!" Magnhildur roared as she tackled Sinister. She punched Sinister in the face, breaking his nose. Magnhildur glanced to Moonlight. "Romulus is gone, Moonlight."

Snarling, Moonlight realized that Romulus had indeed disappeared on her. "He is not fucking this up!" she screeched.

"We can handle these fools," Magnhildur promised. "Get out of here!"

Moonlight took off, knowing exactly where Romulus was going. She found her way to the roof, kicking the door open. She saw that Victor had his hands full with Wade, and that Daken was trying to abscond with his father.

"You and I are going to get out of here. I'm going to take you to a special place, where it's going to be just the two of us," Daken was saying to James

"Like hell you will," Moonlight growled. She lunged at Daken, tackling him to the ground. Moonlight knew that she was no match for Daken, but she had to give Victor enough time to get over to James. All she needed was a few precious seconds-

"I killed you once, and I can kill you again!"

Romulus.

Perfect.

Moonlight knew she was running out of time.

Especially when Daken popped one set of his claws in her midsection as Romulus bit her jugular. She was dimly aware of her blood spraying everywhere.

_Well, this sucks,_ she thought painfully. Moonlight desperately hoped Maya was up to finishing what had been started.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

Maya and Mathildur both shouted in horror and loss as they saw Moonlight's fate.

But it was James who acted first.

Or, at least it was his body that acted first.

"Sorry, Romulus, but I don't die that easy," Moonlight snarled, cutting into Romulus's chest with metal claws. "And this is bigger than either of us."

Romulus staggered back, glowering at the woman who was in control of his lover's body. "You were always so short sighted, my dear," he snapped at her. "Despite your trying to manipulate everything, you could never see beyond your simple minded goal."

"En Sabah Nur must be stopped," Moonlight replied coldly. "I will do whatever it takes to do that. You are-"

"My dear, you really need to grow up," Romulus cut her off. "En Sabah Nur will be stopped with or without you. True, it will be easier with your help, but I think you've lost sight of what exactly it is you are trying to accomplish."

Maya had had enough. "You two can argue until you are blue in the face, but we are getting nowhere," she snapped. "Romulus, I told you your place in these things a long time ago. The same goes for you, little sister. I'm going to do something I should have done years ago."

"And what is that?" Romulus sneered.

"I'm going to interfere."

"Maya, don't!" Moonlight yelled.

"No, little sister," Maya admonished. "Your time of interference is over. Like you, I know what must be done. What you have forgotten is how to be human, and it's high time I helped you remember that. But first, we need to get things straightened out."

Maya glared at Romulus. "James is not for you, of that much my sister was correct about. He has a great role to play yet, but it is not as your paramour." She tipped her head to the side. "It time, old man, you must decide which side of the coming war you will be on." Maya turned her attention to Daken. "As for you, boy, you are more trouble than you're worth. I would kill you, but you have one role left to play. You won't like it, but tough."

"Maya, what the hell are you doing?" Moonlight growled.

"Rather than have all of this foolishness drawn out for hours or days on end, I'm just speeding this along to their natural conclusion," Maya explained. "So, here is what is going to happen. Romulus, you are going to continue doing… whatever it is you do. But without James. Sorry, but he is just not in your future.

"Daken, you're about to get a crash course in learning how to care for someone other than yourself. You are going to raise Moonlight in her new body."

"Wait. What?" Moonlight shrieked.

Maya shook her head at her baby sister. "The Askani sisterhood cannot afford to have you not working to your full potential, Moonlight," she explained, waving a hand at James/Moonlight. James crumpled as a ball of light was pulled out of his chest. Maya took the ball lovingly into her hands. "What better way for you to be reminded how to be human than to grow up all over again?"

Daken looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Yeah, I'm really not interested in fatherhood-"

"Tough shit, little boy," Maya snapped. "Moonlight is not the only one who needs to do some serious growing up. You need a real responsibility. So, you are going to raise one of the people who is essential to the defeating of the man who will destroy the world if they fail. But don't worry, you're going to have some help. Wade Wilson is going to help you raise my little sister."

"Say, what the fuck now?" Wade interjected. With Victor's attention drawn away by Moonlight and Maya, he had been trying to sneak off.

Maya sighed. "You and Daken are going to raise Moonlight," she explained before grinning darkly at the two men. "Good luck with that. Don't fuck it up, or we're all screwed." Maya waved a hand, opening a portal that what appeared to be a very young girl fell out of. "I had this child created a few days ago. She comes from the two of you. Congratulations."

Daken and Wade both looked either stunned or ill. It was kind of hard to tell.

The little girl looked at the two men in bewilderment. She then decided the best response was to suck her thumb.

Maya took the ball of light and held it over the little girl's head. "Now, Moonlight isn't going to remember who she is for at least twenty to twenty five years," Maya continued. "That depends on when En Sabah Nur decides to make his move." The light went into the child. Maya pushed the girl toward her two daddies.

"Um, what's her, ah, what's her name?" Daken asked, his throat suddenly very dry.

Maya shrugged. "I'm going to leave that up to you two," she said. "Consider it the first hurdle into fatherhood."

The little girl blinked at the two men before announcing, "I'm four an' a half years old!"

Maya turned to Victor and James. "Now, for our arrangement, Victor. I will heal James's mind, making him of one mind again." She raised a hand in warning at Victor's obvious joy. "But there is the matter of the price for my services. Including Moonlight, the others, and myself, there are seven Askani Sisters devoted to fighting En Sabah Nur. Now that things are mostly back on track, we will not be as active in your world. However, the seven sisters will be needed to fight the final battle. You know where one of them is. You and James _must_ find the other six. This time, none of us were in proper bodies. We just used what we could find. But that won't do in the end."

Victor nodded. "How will I find them?" he asked.

"It's not that easy," Maya grinned. "Because if it was, En Sabah Nur could find them just as easily. I will give you hints as to where each one is as you go along. You will find the first of my sisters where Artemis should have been the day a great prince was born."

Victor hated riddles. But before he could demand any more information, Maya walked over to James and took his hands in hers. She started speaking in some strange tongue, placing a hand on his forehead. James's eyes rolled back in his head as he crashed to the ground.

"Remember, Victor, all I did was put your brother's mind back together," Maya said. "It will be up to you to fix the rest of it. Don't fail us, Victor, or the world will be destroyed."

Victor watched with the others as Maya and Mathildur vacated their host bodies.

It took him a moment to realize that they were really on their own now.

"Papa, what's my name?" the little girl asked, taking Wade's hand in her own. "Why is the sky blue? Which one of you is my mommy? Can I have a puppy? I want some ice cream. When can we go get ice cream? What's the capital of Assyria?"

Daken and Wade looked at each other helplessly.

Victor noticed his little brother regaining consciousness. "Wha' the fug jus' happen?" James slurred, struggling to get his feet underneath him with Victor's help.

It was going to be a long day for everyone. Victor noticed that Romulus seemed to have disappeared.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

As a general rule of thumb, Romulus was not against what the Askani Sisterhood was trying to accomplish. He, too, had butted heads with En Sabah Nur over the years. It was just that they also seemed rather interested in getting in his way as well.

And while Moonlight he could deal with, Romulus knew better than to try and go against Maya. She had a nasty habit of ruining everyone's day. Why, just look at what she had done to poor Daken!

Romulus was not going to be saddled with another progeny from that family again. Though it would probably be in his best interest to take a hand in guiding the child's upbringing.

It would be good to have one of those damned sisters on his side for a change.

Unfortunately for Romulus, he was so busy plotting, that he was not paying much attention to where he was going.

Romulus walked right into Nick Fury. Well, more like he tripped over Nick Fury, sending both men sprawling in an undignified heap on the floor.

Snarling, Romulus tossed the man off of himself, only to find twenty guns aimed at him.

"Shit," Romulus muttered.

)o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o( )o(

William Stryker decided it was high time to get the hell out of Alkali Lake while the getting was good. Things were getting to weird for him (and he worked with Wade Wilson on a regular basis). Talk of world domination, possessed people, and then another government agency were all sure signs to Stryker that it was time to go.

And so it came to be that one Williams Stryker was running through the woods with a suitcase of money and whatever research he could stuff into it while trying to find the car that David North had assured him was hidden out here somewhere.

But instead of finding this car, he found himself nose to nose with a group of aliens.

"Hey, here's one! We can take him, too!"

Stryker blinked. "What the fuck?" he asked.

"You have been chosen for a great purpose, human!" the alien who was obviously the leader intoned grandly to him. "You will come with us for the great experiments of our Most Glorious Emperor D'Ken so that you may be of great service to the Shi'ar Empire!"

All you need to know for now, is that Stryker's fate involved a lot of probing.


	15. Epilog

Logan lay on his bed in his new room in Xavier's mansion, which was where Victor had brought him after the debacle at Alkali Lake. For the first time in as long as he could remember, his mind felt whole again.

And he was pissed as hell at his brother.

Logan couldn't help but wonder how things could have turned out very differently if Victor hadn't kidnapped him and locked him in a basement all of those years ago. Oh, Logan understood from the brief time that Moonlight had inhabited his body and the information that Maya had left behind that things would have progressed in a way to get him to where he needed to be no matter what.

But how could his own _brother_ do those kinds of things to him?

Worse yet, how could he miss them?

Perhaps that was the most disturbing thing to Logan of all, that he wanted some of that strange relationship with his brother back. It was this desire that kept Logan from fleeing from the mansion.

There was a light knock at the door. "Come in," Logan called out.

The man who Victor had introduced as Eric Lehnsherr opened the door and walked in. "I trust you are settling in?" Eric greeted him.

"Uh, yeah," Logan grunted. It seemed like everyone in the mansion had been avoiding him like the plague, even his own brother, except for Eric and Charles. "I'm just wondering what it is I'm going to be doing here."

"Why, helping us with the charge that Maya gave to your brother, of course," Eric answered. "While the others were off trying to rescue you, Charles and I did some research into this En Sabah Nur fellow. It seems he is also known as 'Apocalypse'. And he wants to rule the world, which is the short version of his story."

Logan shook his head. "What about Moonlight? Is it s a good idea to leave her with my son and Wade?"

Eric chuckled. "It seems that those two are still arguing over what to name the child, but they are attempting to get settled in down in the city for the time being." Eric folded his hands in front of himself. "Charles and I both thought it best if Wade and Daken both kept their distance from you for a while, but were close enough that we could keep our eyes on… Name To Be Decided."

"'Name To Be Decided'? Hell of a name for my granddaughter," Logan grunted in amusement.

"I'm sure the two of them are taking suggestions," Eric offered. "Have you talked to Victor at all since you got back."

Logan shrugged. "Ain't got nothin' to say to him," was his response.

"You can't avoid him forever," Eric pointed out. "Especially since the two of you will eventually have to work together again. We can't afford to have any mishaps because of a lover's spat."

With that nugget of wisdom, Eric left Logan to his thoughts. Grimacing, Logan realized that one of them would have to be the bigger man and approach the other first. He mostly suspected that Victor was giving him space or something like that.

Fine, he would make the first move.

Taking a deep breath and girding the proverbial loins, Logan left his room to search out Victor. Logan found his brother working with a group of teenagers on what looked like fighting skills.

When Victor saw his little brother approaching, he told the students that today's lessons were over. The two men stared at each other silently.

"We need to talk," Logan said.

_Authoress Notes:_

_First, let me explain Chapter 13:_

_I was so ready for Book 2 to be done. Hence, the "quickness" of Chapter 13. Rather than drag it out for another five chapters, I kind of pared everything down into one chapter._ _Because I am sooo ready for this to move on all ready! _

_Some of you were probably scratching your heads and going "En Sabah who? D'Ken? Aliens? WTF?" Remember, I'm trying to bring the comics into this. If you're wondering where some of this might be going, go google some of the names. Then you should be like… "Ah, I'm still not exactly sure why she did that, but now it makes a little more sense!"_

_X-men 1-3 never happened in my AU. _

_What Is Going to Happen Next:_

_There will essentially be three more 'books'. _

_Books 3 and 4 will run concurrently with each other. I felt that Moonlight was TOTALLY about to take away from the original story, which was a Victor/Logan Brocest tale. So, book… let's say 4 will be a bunch of drabbles/short stories about her upbringing. Book 3 will be another set of drabbles/short stories about Victor and Logan (a) working out their issues, (b) having sex, and (c) getting ready for the coming of Apocalypse._

_I plan to start Book 5, about the war with Apocalypse, probably something with Romulus, and tying up all those nasty loose ends, sometime in April, 2011._

_Until then, I seriously need some ideas as for what Daken and Wade's kid should be. The first short stories should be up in a week, and I have no idea what to call the kid!_


End file.
